To be a Spartan
by Faldon113
Summary: Not all Spartans want to be Spartans. Some want nothing more than to choose their own path. Several tried. Only one succeeded. However, with the survival of the human race hanging in the balance, will she choose to continue her free life or will she become the Spartan she was supposed to be once more. Main character is OC but most others are canon. Don't like, don't read.
1. Corbulo's last stand

**Corbulo's Last Stand**

The Pelican was silent as it finally flew into space. Orenski and Sullivan were fast asleep, enjoying the rest that only someone who is physically and mentally exhausted can achieve. Master Chief was as he had been since boarding the Pelican; silent and watchful. The other two soldiers with child faces were talking quietly between themselves, content to ignore everything else, although they also had an air of watchfulness and readiness about them. And then there was Lasky who was trying really hard to stay awake. It wasn't so much that he didn't trust the soldiers that had rescued them. On the contrary, he trusted Master Chief completely. He was just afraid to sleep. Afraid of what his dreams would hold after the events of the night. Afraid that Chyler's face would haunt him again and that he would see her die over and over.

"You need to sleep." Lasky glanced over at the other human on the pelican. Kaine wasn't even looking at him. She was leaning against the sealed side door, her eyes closed. He'd thought she was asleep. How had she become so important to him? She was a loner amongst the cadets, having the standing of a senior cadet despite having only spent one year at the academy. She was an apparent genius when it came to military subjects, acing every test the instructors could give her, so she didn't interact with freshmen cadets. At least, she didn't until recently. Was it really only the day before yesterday that she'd inserted herself in Lasky's life and apparently was more than comfortable staying there. "Lasky, seriously, you need to sleep."

"I'm afraid," he mumbled, to tired to make the words distinct. Kaine rolled her eyes behind her eyelids before reaching over and tugging the tired boy in to her arms. Her hands carded through his blood soaked hair as she hummed a mindless tune. Across from them, Lasky knew the soldiers were giving them strange looks but he didn't much care. Kaine's voice and hands were soothing him into the sleep that he had been avoiding for so many hours.

"Sleep, Lasky. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." To tired to give a verbal reply, Lasky just nodded before finally allowing himself to drift away. He could feel the nightmares on the edge of his mind but they were chased away as he fell deeper in the black depths where even his fears could not find him. The only thing to accompany him was the haunting hum that shielded his mind.

* * *

"You're dismissed," Orenski nearly spat, so clearly disgusted with the both of them. Lasky slid into attention, hoping this would be the end of the humiliation. He knew Vickers was going to get back at him for this. How exactly he would retaliate was unknown, but no way was the bastard going to let this punishment go without remark. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vickers twitch and prepared to about face with him.

"Cadet Lasky, stay." Lasky very nearly jumped but held himself in check, barely. His eyes darted over to meet the cold gaze of one of the other cadets. He didn't know her but her nametag revealed her to be Faldon. Her red hair was shorn outrageously short, making it very easy to mistake her for a boy and she was taller than almost all of the female cadets, nearly taller than some of the males. Her muscles were evident, though not bulging, and the way she held herself was that of a soldier who knew they were deadly and didn't have any problem proving that point over and over again. Pale skin that looked like it had never seen sunlight, which didn't make sense at all considering the training of Corbulo. Yet it was her eyes that stood out the most. They were a silvery color Lasky had never seen before in a human being. Their depths seemed to surge and swirl like the molten silver he had once seen at a metal shop as a boy. Or maybe his thoughts were just waxing poetic again.

Faldon glanced over at Orenski. "April, mind if I talk with cadet Lasky?" Some of the cadets snickered. Obviously they had an idea of the thrashing Lasky was about to receive. The mere thought made male break out in a sweat.

"Permission granted," Orenski said, a slight smirk in the corners of her mouth. She knew how hard and unforgiving Faldon could be and she couldn't wait to see Lasky break down and cry.

Faldon met Lasky's gaze again, her eyes flashing an even brighter silver in the light of the mess hall. "Where did you get those blisters from, cadet?" Everyone around the table sat straighter in surprise; what blisters was she talking about? Lasky twitched away to hide the blisters from her gaze but clearly it was far too late for that.

"I'm not sure, sir," he answered, hoping the cadet would let the subject drop. The tightening of the skin around her eyes informed him that she would not.

"You're not sure? That blister covers the whole side of your hand, cadet. And I'm sure you have more that are covered by the uniform. Blisters on your feet are normal. Blisters on the palm of your hand and your fingertips are normal. The two blisters I've seen, the one on the side of your hand and the one on your neck, are not. Now what is wrong with you?" All the senior cadets were staring at Lasky now, trying to see what Faldon was talking about. Once pointed out, the two blisters were so painfully obvious they all wondered how they had missed them, Orenski more than the others.

"Dr. Hughes said they were blisters from the cryo training, sir," Lasky answered, hoping the answer would get her off his back. Instead her eyes just narrowed further. She didn't go so far as to question the doctor's prognosis but she was obviously unhappy.

"Get them looked at cadet. If you go into a fight injured you'll only be a burden and a liability to your team." Normally Lasky wouldn't have any issue in refusing the order or working his way around it verbally but this cadet was different from any he'd met before. She held a higher sense of authority than any officer he'd ever met and he knew that dodging her command would not only be pointless but most likely painful as well.

"Understood, sir," he answered smartly. Their gaze met again and, to Lasky's immense surprise, Faldon's eyes actually glinted at him. He thought that sort of stuff only happened in books and movies. Faldon nodded once, dismissing him and Vickers who had had to stand beside him the entire time. Together, he and Vickers executed a flawless about face and started walking away.

"Must be tough on your mom," Vickers said, voice quiet but still carrying well the short distance to Lasky's ears. "Her real son is never coming home." Lasky froze, rage instantly roaring through him. It wasn't the first time Vickers had made some offhand comment about Cadmon and Lasky was ready to brush the statement off as he always did. But this time was different. This time he felt a pair of silver eyes watching him, curious about what he would do, how he would respond. How she had even heard Vickers over the bustle of the mess hall was a mystery but she had and she was waiting patiently.

She didn't have to wait long. With a tiny growl, Lasky snapped his elbow back and nailed Vickers in the face. The fight was on.

* * *

His chest was still burning as Lasky carefully trotted outside. He had no idea where Chyler was and was honestly too tired to go looking for her. Thoughts were whirling about his mind so damn fast and he couldn't sort them out. It was times like this that he went out to his "spot". Most people weren't insane enough to willingly sit on top of a crate filled with explosives so he was guaranteed some privacy when he went there. It was a place where he could find some quiet and finally sort through the mess of thoughts that he dubiously called his mind. But this time he wasn't the only person on the crate.

"I figured you'd come out eventually," Faldon said, laying peacefully on the crate and looking up at the stars. She didn't move as Lasky hesitantly sat next to her but somehow he knew she was aware of his every move. "I talked to Dr. Hughes today about you. He said your allergy was severe enough that he recommended you for a medical discharge." The paper in Lasky's hand rustled as he made a fist around it. "Are you going to sign it?"

"What ever happened to patient confidentiality?" Lasky asked, hoping to throw off this line of questions. Faldon just smiled, clearly on to him.

"Dr. Hughes thought I could help you. After all, I have the same problem." Lasky's eyes shot wide in surprise as he stared at his fellow cadet. "Surprised Lasky? Relax; it's not a weakness I flaunt about. In fact, besides you and Dr. Hughes the only other people who know are General Black, Colonel Mehaffey, and another doctor I'd rather forget." She finally sat up, apparently tired of star gazing. Considering the calm and relaxing activity she'd just been enjoying Lasky was a little surprised to see a very hard and dangerous look in her eyes as she glared out at the forest. After a moment she shifted her gaze to him and attempted to soften the glare. "Do you have any questions about what you should do?"

"Why did you stay?" was the only thing to come out of Lasky's mouth and he could have shot himself for it. This was supposed to be about him, not her! But Faldon just chuckled, the dark look finally fading entirely.

"I stayed because this is what I'm meant to do, Lasky. Being a soldier is the path that was chosen for me and I'm helpless to do anything but follow it." Her eyes dimmed as they shifted back to the forest, apparently highly restless. "I've defied my fate as much as I can, choosing how, when, and where I would be a soldier, but I can't escape my ultimate destination. When I learned about my allergy it wasn't a way out for me. It was just another bloody obstacle I had to face and overcome." Again their gaze met and again she seemed to be trying to tell him something with her eyes. "It is a way out for you, Lasky. I'm sure Col. Mehaffey gave you the talk about how your memories and your choices are ultimately all you'll have left in the end. How does she put it? 'At the end of the game the king and the pawn go into the same box.'" Lasky snorted quietly, a bitter smile on his face. That was it exactly. "If you stay in the UNSC you will go into cryo again. Every time you do there is the risk of you dieing. If you don't die, you will be a liability to whatever group you are a part of because they will need to protect you while you're vulnerable."

"Sounds like you're telling me to get out," Lasky noted bitterly. He was thus surprised when Faldon started laughing quietly.

"Does it? Well, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just telling you what you're risking by staying in. Now I'll show you what you're risking by getting out." She handed him a small stack of stiff paper. "Sorry they're not digital. I'm old fashioned." Lasky blinked as he realized the papers were actually photos. Each one was a different person and there really wasn't anything cohesive about the group.

"Why are you showing me these?" he asked, holding a picture of a baby up to see it better. They weren't even really good photos. Candid pictures done by amateurs no doubt. He put the baby picture back in the pile and was about to move on when a hand stopped him. Startled, he looked up at his companion.

"Those are people who probably would have died if Lieutenant Micheal Jarvis had allowed his allergy to cytoprethaline stop him from becoming an ODST. Jarvis was the person Dr. Hughes called to talk to me when he discovered my allergy. He basically had the same talk with me that I'm having with you." Carefully, she took back the photos and put them back in her pouch. "Those people were being held by insurrectionists as hostages. Jarvis dropped behind enemy lines and managed to rescue all of them. He gave me the photos to remind me of the good that comes from staying despite the risks."

To overwhelmed for words, Lasky leaned back and took up Faldon's star gazing. "That's amazing," he finally forced out. "What happened to him?"

"He died a month after talking with me," she answered with a shrug, although her voice hitched slightly. "The allergy finally caught up with him and his lungs shut down. He was dead before they could get him out of the cryo tube." With an ease Lasky could only envy, she smoothly jumped to her feet and stood casually. "This isn't a game Lasky. You will be gambling with your life if you stay. But maybe by staying you'll keep other people alive." The silence stretched before Faldon suddenly gave a barking laugh. "Listen to me. I sound like one of those really old men that think they know everything just because there's a generation or two of difference between them and you." To Lasky's surprise, a fun-loving grin spread across the other's face as she looked down at him. "It's your life, Lasky. Do what you want." Again her eyes flicked to the woods and a frown crossed her face again. She took a deep breath through her nose before releasing it with a very quiet growl. "You should get inside."

"Why?" Lasky asked. By then being difficult was an ingrained response. "And what is your name? I mean, your first name." The smirk she shot him was back full force and was really starting to get annoying. She shook her head before turning and casually loping away.

"Gut instinct for the first," she called, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. "Kaine for the second." She'd barely stepped off the crate when the alarm went off, making both cadets freeze in shock. Lasky had never heard the alarm before. Well, not this alarm. By the time he'd gotten to his feet, Faldon was gone, racing up the hill much faster then he thought was humanly possible. He didn't even notice that he was running right after her.

"To the Tether, now!" one Marine yelled, cadets and staff racing by him as the alarm continued to blare. "This is not a drill! Let's go, let's go, let's go, come on!" It only took a moment for Lasky to lose Faldon in the crowds. At some point he ran into Chyler and JJ and the three of them rushed inside. Col. Mehaffey was hurrying cadets along, telling them all to get to their squads, quickly. Her eyes met Lasky's for a split second and the sight made Lasky stumble. The surge of humanity kept him moving even as he felt frozen to the spot. It was the first time he had seen fear in the Col's eyes.

"Hastati!" Orenski called, gesturing frantically. "This way! Hurry up! Right here, right here!" The squad all stumbled in around her, quickly forming a small cluster and trying very hard to stay together. "We're going to stand in line. Lasky! Chin! Let's go." Once they were all together Orenski fell into squad leader mode and took command, even as her voice shook the slightest bit. "Okay, hold tight. Stay in line."

"What is this, insurrectionists?" Lasky asked, feeling a pit open up in his stomach. His mind flashed him an image of Faldon, glaring out into the forest at an unseen target. Gut instinct, she had said. She had known the attack was coming somehow. Somehow.

"I have no idea," Sully panted, fear in every line of his body. Every member of the squad was looking around, straining to make some sort of sense out of all this chaos. Orenski continued to try and calm them, or maybe she was trying to calm herself, but her words weren't helping much.

The sound of a falling object caught everyone's attention and their eyes shot up towards the glass ceiling. They watched with wide and fearful eyes as pods fell from the sky to strike the ground, soldiers emerging from those pods with weapons ready. "What the-?" Vickers breathed, hardly daring to believe what he had seen. Fear swept over the group anew as the situation crystallized painfully in their minds.

"Why are ODST's dropping here?" Sully asked, wanting to deny reality as much as he could. His voice begged for someone to tell him that he and the assumptions he's made were wrong. Lasky knew they weren't.

"Because we're under attack." Four words that shattered whatever lingering hope or optimism they had held. More pods fell, adding to the chaos that was surrounding the academy. Orenski made a quip about the situation not being good to which Chyler replied dryly that, "ODST's dropping is never good." The pressure finally became too much to stand and Dimah snapped.

"Screw this," she said. "I can get us on this wagon." Her voice didn't waver but her eyes were so full of fear no one could doubt what had prompted the reaction.

"No, no, no, we will hold our position," Orenski ordered, seeing the very dangerous fractures in her squad. She knew they were scared, hell, she was scared too, but as squad leader she was determined to maintain a sense of order amongst the people she was responsible for.

"Guys, come on," Dimah insisted, fear finally creeping into her voice. She could see everyone wanted to take her offer but their training held firm and no-one moved to join her. "Suit yourself." She hurried away, ignoring the calls of her name behind her. In her haste she bumped into another cadet but kept going without looking to see who. Still, her skin prickled as silver eyes followed her. Those silver eyes then glanced back at the squad she'd left behind and narrowed. Things weren't going the way any of them had hoped.

Lasky watched as Dimah talked her way past the marine in charge of loading the wagon. She boarded successfully and finally turned to look at them, worry on her face. Sully commented that it was taking to long and they should have taken Dimah's advice but Lasky didn't think so. Gut instinct, Faldon had said. Well his gut instinct told him that getting on the wagon was the worst thing he could do just then.

The wagon went up as the squad watched. Their gaze quickly became horrified as right before their eyes a very large and very strange ship appeared out of no where. Two more quickly followed the appearance of the first and seemed to fill the sky. "What the hell are those things?" Lasky breathed. Before anyone could respond, even with an "I don't know," the first ship shot right at the Tether and struck the ascending wagon, blowing it to pieces. The Tether swayed for a few moments, no longer having the support that it had been built on, and then the base collapsed, imploding upon itself and falling upon the corridor where everyone was waiting. "Go!" Lasky yelled, but for some, he was already too late.

In a panic, every human turned and ran. Those near the front never stood a chance, as the corridor collapsed around them, smothering them instantly. Others fell as they ran and everyone else was to busy escaping to help, leaving their fallen comrades to be buried and, ultimately, to die. Lasky tried to hurry his own escape but his lungs hadn't recovered from the cryo and he was struggling. He nearly fell at one point but hands appeared under his arm and hurriedly drug him along. In the flashes of light that were available Lasky thought it was Faldon but he wasn't sure.

He was eventually released and crumpled just at the edge of the collapsed section of the corridor. Coughing through the dust, he struggled to his knees only to discover Chyler and Orenski beside him. He was attempting to get his bearing and stave off the faint he could feel coming when something struck the window beside him. Three pairs of very frightened eyes instantly snapped towards the glass to see a slumped, dead body leaning against it. Then out of the gloom, like one of those cliché horror movies from ancient Earth times, came a monster, illuminated with violet light. It shouted in a strange tongue before suddenly cleaving the statue of Corbulo in two with what seemed to be a sword made of pure energy.

"Tom, come on," Chyler said, quickly pulling Lasky away from the window. He stumbled to his feet, still in shock. How many more surprises were going to blindside them tonight?

"What was that?" he asked, the question falling from numb lips. He knew he was going into shock - literally. Cadmon had told him about it once. The human mind could only take so many surprises before it just shut down. It was pretty safe to say that he was quickly approaching that point. Orenski's voice gave him a focus and he struggled to catch up with the conversation when something suddenly struck the roof above them. Lasky didn't even bother looking up as he started running again, wanting to believe it was just rubble from the Tether but hearing screams that abruptly ended with crashes. ODST's were still dropping in and he was afraid that some weren't even making it to the ground.

The three burst out of the ruined hall and chaos swallowed them whole. Dust and smoke were everywhere, restricting vision to just a few feet. People were yelling and screaming and running and shooting. Bolts of purple and green flew about freely, accompanied by the sharp reports of rifle fire that came from everywhere. Every now and then a creature would appear through the gloom, overpowering anyone unfortunate enough to get near it. Orenski was long gone, vanished into the belly of the creature that Lasky suddenly realized was war. Chyler was also gone, lost somewhere amongst the sea of pain and death. Then a silhouette that Lasky knew well appeared.

"Get to the dorms!" Col Mehaffey yelled, pointing in the direction he should go. Her name fell from his lips but was swallowed up by the greater roars of the beast. He wasn't even sure she had actually seen him or if she was yelling for the benefit of all cadets in the area. "Go, go, go, go!" she screamed, actually meeting his gaze for a split second before four purple spikes suddenly embedded themselves in her, silencing her forever.

That was it. That was the last surprise he could take. Lasky could feel his mind deactivate as he stood there, numbly. He saw everything around him still. The ODST's fighting. The monsters appearing and disappearing. The bullets and bolts that came disturbingly close to him. None of it mattered though.

"Tom!" Chyler's voice destroyed the bubble as she pulled him after her. Sully was right beside them, pushing Lasky along when he stumbled. "Come on, let's go!" The three weaved themselves through the fighting, occasionally hearing people yell out for groups to fall back. At some point they ran into Chin and Vickers, allowing the squad to hurry on together.

By some miracle they all made it to the dorms and ran into Orenski within. Most of the room doors were already closed and locked, leaving the squad in despair until Sully found that Lasky's door was ajar. The six hurried in, instinctively placing something to their back and trying very hard to catch their breaths. Except for their ragged breathing, silence reigned until Sullivan shattered it.

"Oh my god," he said, his voice catching in the back of his throat to give it a sob like quality. "Dimah, she's dead."

"Col Mehaffey," Lasky breathed, adding a name to the list they all knew was very long. Thank god they stopped there, no one wanting to speculate on just how many people they knew were now dead.

"Yeah, well, we will be too if we don't do something!" Vickers nearly yelled, quickly coming apart at the seams as the stress piled on. Sully attempted to activate Lasky's comm but to no avail as all communications had been knocked out by the creatures. The moment was solidified for their all when Vickers stated, "It's a whole new war."

A whole new war. Again, Faldon's eyes flashed through Lasky's memory. Her glare at the forest, her stargazing, her restlessness. A whole new war. A war she had sensed and had been attempting to locate. No, that didn't make any sense. Humans couldn't sense war. There were stories about animals that could sense natural disasters before they happen but humans were never among them and besides, war was not a natural disaster. Yet Lasky's gut kept informing him that yes, she could sense it. She knew it was coming. And if she knew it was coming, maybe she also knew how to survive it.

A terrified scream from the hallway snapped Lasky back to reality, freezing his blood. Everyone's hearts stopped when the scream was suddenly cut off. "That sounded close," Vickers exclaimed, earning the title of Captain Obvious in Lasky's mind. But that was a thought for a different and safer time. Lasky carefully peeked around his door into the hallway only to be met by a walking nightmare. Just down the hall stood one of those monsters, a cadet's body speared on its sword. It shouted something as it shoved the body free before, literally, vanishing before Lasky's very wide eyes.

"It's invisible," he said, his voice nearly numb. It had gotten to the point where he was positive nothing could surprise him anymore.

"What the hells invisible?" Vickers asked dumbly.

"One of those things is inside and it is invisible," Lasky snarled. It took a moment for everyone to process his words. During that moment he looked out in the hall again. Everything was still but then there was a slight distortion in the air just before one of the doors shattered. The creature must be checking each room for survivors - and Lasky's room wasn't that far away.

"Let's go," he said quickly, his mind already racing ahead to make plans. "We need to get out of here." He wasn't entirely sure where they would go but he knew they would be helpless if they waited for the monster to come to them.

"No, no, no, no, screw that," Sully denied instantly, eyes wide in fear. "We stay here."

"Where are we gonna go?" JJ challenged, trying to control the shaking in his hands. The whole squad was falling apart, torn between staying and making a break for it. Lasky spun around, looking to the open door. For a moment, just a brief moment, he could have sworn he'd heard Faldon's voice in the hall. Great, now he was totally losing it.

"No, no, no," Orenski finally said, having something to work off of at last. "We're gonna-we're gonna go to the training room, we're gonna get decked out, we're gonna get some weapons." The hall was still echoing with the tinkling of glass as the monster took out another door. Lasky wasn't sure who to watch, shifting back and forth between paying attention to Orenski and looking over his shoulder. If only he could say if he was watching for the monster to appear or Faldon.

"I'll take point," JJ said, finally stopping the shakes. Like Orenski, he could function once he had a clear idea of what was needed from him. So long as he had a plan, everything would be just fine.

"Come on, come on, line up!" Orenski ordered, voice starting to shake as the crashes got closer and closer. The squad scrambled to obey, falling into a line behind JJ. "Alright," she finally breathed, falling into her own place while Lasky chose to take the rear. "Tell us when. Tell us when, alright?" For the half second that there was calm Lasky wandered why Orenski kept repeating herself. Wasn't telling them once enough?

JJ peered around the door frame, watching the seemingly empty hallway. For a moment everything was still and he wondered if the monster had possibly passed them by. Then the door next to their hiding place shattered and the thing went in. "Now," he said, quickly ducking into the hallway, the others scrambling after him. The monster roared as they ran through the halls, following JJ as he frantically tried to not slip. When they came to an intersection he paused, knowing both ways would take them to the training room but unsure of which was faster. Behind him, he heard Orenski tell him to go so he quickly chose one path and started on it - only to pause a few steps later despite his squad leader's continued orders to go. He couldn't see anything except empty hallway but he could feel it. Something, something breathing, was right in front of him. Realization dawned and JJ knew he was about to die.

In the flash of a moment, a sword of energy appeared, skewering JJ and lifting him up into the air. "JJ!" Vickers screamed; complete terror dripping from his voice. Lasky could only stare for a long moment at the suspended body, knowing JJ was already dead. A breeze behind him, as if someone had rushed past, is what snapped him from his paralysis.

"Oh my god!" he yelled, reaching forward to grab Chyler's shoulder just as the body dropped. That broke the spell for everyone and they broke back into a run, scrambling back a few steps to go the other way, yelling, "Go," so quickly that they couldn't be sure who was yelling or who they were yelling to. The monster yelled and followed, not bothering to chase as it was already sure of its victory, leaving behind JJ's body, broken and bleeding on the floor.

The training room doors suddenly loomed before them, already slightly open so that Orenski just had to use her shoulder to push them apart so they could all stumble in. "Lasky, send the distress beacon," she ordered, heading straight to the lockers where their gear was. "Chyler, help me get the weapons." The others, sans Lasky, followed her example while Lasky instead stopped at the control panel, furiously pushing in codes while the rest of the group attempted to unlock the lockers. It only took a couple seconds for them to realize the codes weren't working and the lockers were staying locked, much to Chyler's horror. Voices raised again, some encouraging Chyler to try the codes again while Sully called for Lasky to close the door. He repeated the order when it appeared that Lasky hadn't heard him.

"Yeah, I'm trying!" Lasky yelled, frantically trying to keep from going back into shock. There were more exclamations of dismay from the squad as the lockers stubbornly refused to budge. The doors finally started to close with a tone, leaving Lasky to return to his original mission of sending a distress beacon. "Mayday! Mayday, mayday. This is Cadet Thomas Lasky. I repeat, mayday! Mayday! There's been an attack on Corbulo Academy! Extensive casualties. I repeat, extensive casualties!" Somewhere in the distance he could hear Orenski mention something about land navs but he was focused on the screen which flickered in a strange way, reminding him of when AI's hacked into programs. "I-I think the beacon's down as well." After all, there had been no reply, no response. Just that flicker which could mean any number of things.

"We're dead," Sully said, quickly approaching the numbness of shock himself. In a moment of terror induced hysteria Lasky wanted to ask Sully if he was always so optimistic but he managed to hold his tongue. Orenski had her hands in her hair, trying to come up with a plan, repeating the word 'think' like a mantra.

"We can't stay in here April," Lasky finally said, voice gentle to avoid her going into a full meltdown. He remembered Cadmon talking about times like this. Times when newbies were thrown into combat and totally lost grip on themselves. Cadmon had said those people needed a very special type of person to help them. A person that could get them refocused, yes, but also one that would allow the newbie to vent. A person that could take their abuse and not become offended. Orenski needed that now and so he'd have to be the one to help.

"We can't go out there," she yelled at him, looking at him as though he'd lost his mind. Before Lasky could respond, everyone's attention was grabbed by Vickers as he grunted, slamming a missile round into the locker grating. He repeated the action several times but the grating didn't even dent. The others yelled encouragement, or maybe not depending on how you looked at it, but then there was an even louder crash and everyone froze, realizing it hadn't come from Vickers. It came from the door. They all turned and stared for a few long moments, wondering if it was even worth it to continue to try and survive. Another crash. Lasky's eyes noticed the screen near the door flickered again. The terror was clearly affecting him as he could have sworn he saw a face in that moment. "Hide," Orenski breathed. Another spell broken as they all scrambled to obey; Lasky, Sully, Orenski, and Chyler going one way while Vickers went another.

Of course, Vickers quickly realized he wasn't where he wanted to be and turned around to join the others as the monster's strange language swept over them but sparks from a live wire stopped his progress. Instead, he ducked behind one of the large lockers as the thing hit the door again. Repeatedly he would glance around the edge of the locker to see Lasky on the other side, gesturing for him to join them, only to duck back behind the metal as the door was further abused. Finally, it was too late as a final hit resulted in the door flying off the hinges, allowing the creature access to their hiding place. Instantly, everyone moved farther back, trying to remain in the shadows as they knew they would soon have company. In his panic, Vickers' breathing became painfully loud, alerting everyone to his location. Lasky leaned around the locker, catching Vickers' eye and held a finger to his mouth, telling Vickers to shh. A nod was the only reply before footsteps approached, driving them back into hiding.

Even though it was invisible, Lasky was still aware of the thing's progress. Its breath disturbed the steam that was leaking from pipes and it jostled the fallen door. When the footsteps had reached the far back of the room Lasky knew they had their only chance. Turning to the others, he started nodding for them to move further towards the front, mouthing the word 'go' in case they didn't understand. When they hesitated he took the lead, ducking under fallen beams and trying his best to avoid the live wires that still sparked at random times. Crawling on the ground, he made his way to the open space just before the doors, Chyler on his heels. Eventually all four made it through and huddled close together.

"Lasky, go for the door," Sully whispered, managing to sound like he wasn't totally scared out of his mind. Lasky shook his head, said something about not leaving Vickers while looking over his shoulder in the direction he knew Vickers would be. Chyler asked where the creature was, a good thing to know before they tried to make a break for it. Knowing he couldn't risk looking around the edge, Lasky lay down so he was looking underneath the rows of lockers. For a moment everything was still and he realized it was always that way just before something really bad happened. True to form, a puddle not three feet away from them was disturbed as an invisible foot stepped in it. Lasky scrambled back up, eyes wide. "It's right there."

Another wire spark revealed the creature for the briefest of moments, outlining its massive form. Then the footsteps resumed, approaching their hiding place while that horrible sword again appeared, glowing with hot, blue energy. They all leaned back but didn't bother trying to get away. It was pointless to resist anymore. Even when the thing revealed itself, they didn't move. It was almost a relief to accept death.

"Hey!" Vickers yelled, stepping out from around the locker, missile raised to throw. "Guys, run!" Before he could throw the round the creature shot him, catching him off guard and killing him instantly. Sully cried out for Vickers before throwing his hand across his mouth, realizing he had given them away.

Sure enough, the creature came around the locker, yelling at them in its strange tongue, sword held low and ready. They had no clue what it was saying but the intent was clear. They were going to die. It laughed, coiling itself in preparation to strike-

-before suddenly screaming and falling down dead, the knife being pulled out of its neck. In its place stood the tallest damn robot the cadet's had ever seen. It stepped forward, turning lights on and sweeping the light over each face. Then, to their even further astonishment, it spoke. "We don't have much time. Let's go." Lasky could only blink and nod.

The cadet's scrambled to their feet, Chyler instantly rushing back to check on Vickers. It only took her a moment to realize he was dead. Meanwhile, the robot got on his radio, calling someone. "Kelly, inform command I have four survivors. Take your team north. Rendezvous at evac Alpha for Pelican extraction. We'll meet you there. Chief out." It turned back around, observing the cadets again. Lasky was very disconcerted by the fact that he couldn't see its face. Hell, he didn't even know if it had a face. For all he knew, all that lay behind the mask was a mass of wires and circuit boards. But even robots were expected to answer certain questions.

"How did you find us?" he asked, wondering if by chance Faldon had something to do with this. Gah, why did he keep thinking about her? A cadet he hadn't even spoke to until the day before and didn't know the name of until maybe an hour ago.

"A distress beacon," it answered as though the answer should have been obvious. Honestly, it should have been and Lasky knew it as he looked away. He heard Sully ask why the robot had come for them. "You're the only survivors." Lasky's head snapped back, his eyes wide. They were the only survivors from the whole school? Sully put words to his thoughts but the answer floored them all.

"On the planet."

The mere idea was so absurd that they couldn't process it. There were several thousand people in the school alone, millions across the planet. It was impossible for there to be four survivors out of an entire planet. However, the robot gave them no time to contemplate the thought. "We've got fifteen minutes to get to the evac point. Armor up."

"It-It's locked," Sully informed him, still reeling from the revelation. The robot looked his way before walking over to one of the lockers, ripping the grating off and tossing it away as if it was nothing. The crash of the grating was loud enough that the cadets didn't hear the quiet footsteps but the robot did. It whirled around, lights flared and gun leveled at the door.

"Holy shit!" Faldon yelled, stepping back, eyes wide. "What the hell is that?!"

"Kaine!" Lasky said, suddenly feeling better. There were other survivors out there! This robot thing was wrong, they weren't the last.

Faldon blinked at Lasky, still keeping a wary eye on the robot that had yet to lower its weapon. "Lasky, Orenski, what is going on?" She glared at the robot. "And you, put that down! I'm human, in case you haven't noticed. Save your bullets for the nightmare monsters outside." The gun was lowered slowly and everyone knew the robot was observing this new addition before it visibly shook its thoughts away.

"No time," it said, still gruff while remaining unruffled. "Armor up with the others; we have to move." For a moment Orenski was sure Faldon would refuse the orders. She was, after all, infamous for doing things her own way. There wasn't a single officer who didn't loathe getting stuck with her for any type of lesson. So it was a great surprise when the redhead just nodded, quickly entering the room and approaching the open locker.

In no time they were all suited up and moving through the halls. The robot took the lead, Faldon directly behind it, Lasky on the right side, Orenski on the left, Sully covering the rear, and Chyler in the middle. It was a standard formation, made slightly awkward by Faldon's extra presence but she managed to slide in seamlessly. They were all silent as they moved through the hall, the only lights to be seen coming from their guns and the robot's armor. Around them wires were sparking and parts of the building were giving in to gravity, collapsing where it stood. The dust was thick and Lasky's already damaged lungs were struggling, resulting in a few coughing spells. During the first one the robot had turned to face him but Faldon had slid between them, silently rebuking the thing. "Here," she whispered, offering Lasky some water. After a drink Lasky's throat was soothed and they moved on, the robot ignoring the following coughs.

Suddenly the robot stopped dead, lifting a hand in the signal to cease movement. Faldon was already frozen, having stopped in the same half moment as the robot, weapon up and ready. Her eyes were trained down the hall, seeming to see things they could not. Actually, that wouldn't be a surprise at all.

"Stay quiet," the robot ordered, turning to face them. "Do not leave, no matter what you hear outside."

"Wait," Lasky said, a thought popping into his mind. "Who are you?" Silence fell but he still noticed Faldon's sudden, bitter smile.

"Call me Master Chief," the robot answered verbally while Faldon mouthed the words at the same time. Without waiting, the robot turned back around and moved down the hall, vanishing into the darkness.

The stress became too much and Chyler broke formation, sitting down while leaning against a wall. "I knew those ONI vids were bad news," Sully moaned as Lasky went to kneel beside Chyler. "Now we're the only ones alive." Orenski tried to cut him off but there was no stopping him now. "What the hell is going on? We're all following a giant robot." Faldon twitched. "Who knows if he's even coming back?"

"He's gotta come back," Lasky said, looking into the darkness as if he could will Master Chief to reappear. "I believe him." Chyler was crying by that point so Lasky gave his attention to her, trying to stop a mental meltdown from occurring.

Sully took breath to retort but was stopped by Faldon grabbing his shoulder. "Sully, shut up," she growled, eyes sparking. She grabbed the helmet he had hanging on his hip and shoved it at him. "Gear up soldier or I'll save these bastards the trouble and shoot you myself." They all quietly put on their helmets, Lasky watching Faldon closely. Maybe it was just because more time had gone by since the attack, maybe he hadn't seen her initial panic, but he couldn't help but notice how calm she was. The four of them were falling to pieces but she looked barely ruffled. For a moment their eyes met and she raised a brow at him, challenging him to speak his thoughts. He chose to look away instead.

A very loud thud down the hall startled them all into stillness. Footsteps started coming towards them, loud and lumbering. Orenski had her weapon trained down the hall but was shaking so bad Lasky seriously doubted she would be able to hit anything. By comparison, the calmest of the group was Faldon, who kept her weapon in a low-ready position. She was still tense and watchful but didn't seem overly concerned.

Then the lights flicked on, revealing Master Chief. The hall echoed with sighs of relief although Lasky wasn't the only one to notice that Faldon snorted in amusement instead. Before they could ask where the robot had gone it asked, "Who's the best shot here?"

"You, probably?" Sully answered uncertainly. Orenski glanced at Faldon, knowing her records on the range, but the glare she received in return was enough to quell her tongue. She wasn't sure what the redhead's deal was with the robot but knew said redhead wasn't above kicking her ass, even in an emergency situation.

"Chyler is," Lasky said, slightly proud. The female in question nodded and echoed that she was good.

"I am too," Orenski chimed in, drawing the robot's gaze to herself. It stared at her for a moment before swiveling over to Lasky.

"Cadet Lasky, can you drive a warthog?" Lasky straightened up, shock clearly written on his face. Warthogs were reserved for officers and their aides. Cadets never even got to ride in one unless it was an emergency. Granted, this counted as an emergency, but what sort of question was that?

However, the robot kept waiting so Lasky finally had to respond, "Yeah, sure." Another snort from Faldon. At least someone was being amused.

"Good," the robot said. "That's where we're headed. Shooters on the left and right, driver in the center." Everyone nodded, shifting back into formation. "Stay close to me. It's your best chance of survival." They all noticed that he said nothing about guaranteed survival. It was pointless to promise things that could not be guaranteed.

They silently moved down the hall, finally stepping outside the walls. Lasky instantly regretted that step as they were confronted by a large field of dead bodies. He had to fight down the urge to hurl as he looked at all the twisted, mutilated bodies of people he knew. Cadets he had trained with. Teachers he had studied under. Officers he had busted his ass to impress. ODST that had jumped feet first into hell just to save them. They were all dead, sprawled across the grounds like a morbid work of art. There had been no discrimination on the part of the monsters. They killed everyone, regardless of age, rank, gender, or race.

"Lasky," Faldon called, voice barely noticeable but still loud enough to catch Lasky's attention and make him turn to face her. "Focus on the now. We can mourn later." If anyone else had said those words, Lasky would have lashed out against them but he found himself unable when he met her gaze. Those silver eyes were filled with pain and understanding. She was just as hurt by the scene but was forcing herself to continue. He had to do the same.

The progress across the grounds was a very slow and very tense journey. Every little sound seemed amplified, resulting in a very jumpy group of cadets. Master Chief never even twitched, carrying steadily on but it was a robot so that was to be expected.

At long last, the group reached the last stretch, the warthog at the end of the path. But Lasky was worried. The last few hundred feet Faldon had become very twitchy. Her gaze kept flicking up to the top of a building across the parade grounds. It was reminiscent enough of how she had acted on the crate hours ago that Lasky also became twitchy. Twice he opened his mouth to ask her what is wrong but both times she would glance his way, silently telling him to keep quiet. Each time he obeyed.

Of course, it was all too good to be true. By the time the sound of the shot reached their ears Sully was already dropping, the needle round cutting right through his leg. With a grunt of pain, he started to fall forward. Another weapon report made him look towards the building Faldon had been glancing at for so long. Time seemed to slow as the next round came towards him, trained on his head. Before he could even comprehend the fact that he was about to die though, Master Chief's arm blocked his view and the needle shattered on the armor.

That needle was the only warning they received before heavy fire had them all, minus Chief, diving behind the wall for cover. "Get down!" Chief yelled, throwing Sully down behind the wall to join them. The barrage continued, forcing them all to stay low while Chief stood strong, ignoring the needles that shattered ineffectively against the metal. "Get to the hog!" it ordered, pointing down the path. "I'll draw their fire." A close explosion distracted Lasky but when he looked back the Master Chief was gone.

"Chief!" he yelled, panic invading his mind as he wondered if he was losing his mind even more. But the rain of projectiles wasn't easing up so he couldn't afford to dwell on the thoughts.

"Cover me!" Orenski yelled, moving into a better fighting position. Faldon responded, carefully looking over the wall to fire at the offending creatures. "Lasky, go!" the squad leader yelled, taking a position that would allow her to cover the path to the warthog.

"You okay?" Lasky asked Chyler, noticing her freezing up again. She nodded, even though it was shaky.

"I've got Sully," she told him, pulling herself back together. "Go!" Lasky nodded back, hoping this wouldn't be the last time he saw her.

"Moving! Cover me!" Lasky yelled before jumping to his feet and taking off down the path. It was only about a hundred feet to the hog but it was the longest hundred feet he had ever run. The needles flew by him, interspersed by some green stuff that hissed and spit like plasma. He could hear Orenski and Faldon continuing to shoot, giving him as much cover as they could.

Chyler steeled herself before trying to add to the cover but when the wall beside her exploded from an impact she ducked back down. Faldon and Orenski were covering well enough for the moment. "Stay low, stay low!" she yelled to Sully, starting to crawl away. She could feel him following so she focused on finding a clear path.

Meanwhile, Lasky finally reached the warthog. Ducking behind it for cover, he noticed a body hanging out. He wouldn't be able to get in with that body in the way so he hurried over to pull it out. His heart nearly stopped when he realized that the body he was tugging on was General Black's. Then the moment passed and he resumed his pulls. In moments like this the living had priority and there was no time to give respect to the dead. That would have to wait until he wasn't being shot at anymore.

Back at the heart of battle, Orenski realized, to her horror that she was out of ammo. "Chyler!" she called, catching her teammate's attention. "I'm out! Give me Sully!" Chyler went one step farther and actually threw Sully towards the other female. That left the two to stumble on while Chyler again tried to look over the wall to cover her friends.

Lasky was having his own set of troubles. The warthog did not want to start. Granted, he wasn't entirely sure how to start the thing but he knew it had something to do with pushing buttons and giving it gas. This seemed more a power problem as the lights kept fading in and out. Groaning, he kicked the machine in frustration. Couldn't one thing go right?

It was a sentiment echoed by Chyler as she too ran out of ammo. She looked around the rubble frantically, hoping to spot an abandoned magazine while Faldon continued to fight. Vaguely, she wondered how the redhead still had any bullets when both she and Orenski had run out. Then her attention was caught by what seemed to be a weapon those creatures used. Cautiously, she pulled it from the rubble. It was heavier then she'd expected, making her scramble for purchase which resulted in her accidentally firing it. Lucky, the shot hit no one and she was able to lift the thing over the wall. Taking a precious second to aim, Chyler fired again, this time hitting her target who fell with a yell that sounded like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Across from her, Chyler heard Faldon laugh and a tiny smile appeared. At least now they were able to do more then just cover.

In the mean time, Lasky was still fighting with the warthog. He had resorted to attempting to hotwire the thing in hopes that it would make the vehicle start. With a final twist of the wires and a passionate, "Come on!" the hog finally started. Relief swept over him but the screams of the creatures made him look up. Three sharp weapon reports rang out over the already chaotic battle and three monsters fell. Startled, Lasky turned to see Master Chief running across one of the upper ramparts, pistol out and firing. With a calmness that could only be found in robots and AI's, it ran along, taking out a monster with every shot. The scene was so amazing that all the cadets paused their actions to watch.

Spotting their chance, Chyler turned to Orenski. "April, go!" she yelled, turning back to providing cover. Orenski obeyed, half-carrying half-dragging Sully along to the warthog. She threw him in the back rather unceremoniously before swinging in herself.

Chief continued its own devastating fight, running to the end of the rampart before leaping off, barely missing an explosion. Landing expertly right behind Chyler, it pointed to the hog. "Go!" it said sharply, leaving no room for argument. Chyler ran, Faldon hard on her heels. While Chyler swung into the front next to Lasky, Faldon scrambled into the back, taking care to not step on Sully who was nearly delirious with pain. Chief sprung onto the back, taking control of the gun. "Drive!" it yelled, bracing itself. It was the only excuse Lasky needed to slam the gas and the hog shot forward.

In seconds they were lost among the trees. The hog was much more powerful than Lasky had expected and he fought to keep it on the road. They swerved wildly, managing to get out of one rut only to land themselves in another. In the back Sully groaned, his wounded leg loudly protesting the rough treatment it had received thus far. "Lasky!" Orenski yelled, having to grip the side of the warthog as it swerved again. The vehicle had only been built for three people after all and only two were supposed to be seated.

"It's harder than it looks," Lasky yelled back, trying to avoid another crater. He didn't remember the road being so rough but then realized there had probably been fighting out this way as well.

Sully screamed again as a sharp jerk from Lasky banged his legs against the seats. "Hang in there Sully," Orenski called even though she knew full well that words were meaningless. Faldon hunkered down as much as she could, trying to hold Sully's body still so he would not injure himself any more.

"Sorry," Lasky called back to his friend, slowly getting the warthog mostly straight.

"You're doing fine," Chyler assured him. "Just keep it steady." Lasky wanted to retort but was cut off.

"Bear right, cadet," Chief ordered. "There's an exit directly ahead." Nodding, even though the robot couldn't see, Lasky spun the wheel to guide the warthog on to the other path. The maneuver went smoothly, so he knew something else had to screw up. So when Faldon snapped around to stare behind them a few seconds later he wasn't surprised.

"Something's following us," she hissed, pulling her weapon up in a ready position. Chyler and Orenski followed suit while Lasky pressed the accelerator harder. The forest was flying by them but it wasn't fast enough. It was never fast enough.

"Faster, cadet," Master Chief ordered, settling itself further at the gun. "Four minutes to the Pelican. We have to get off the planet." Despite his better judgment and the subconscious knowledge that a hotwired warthog couldn't handle top speeds, Lasky pushed the accelerator to the floor. Their speed increased phenomenally, to the point where Lasky almost didn't have enough time to realize a grenade had just been thrown at them. With a yell he spun the wheel, trying desperately to avoid the glowing blue orb but there was a reason the vehicles were called warthogs and their lack of agility and maneuverability was part of it.

The grenade went off and while Lasky managed to avoid the main explosion the hog took the plasma hit, severely damaging the energy relays. The explosion also threw up a lot of dust, blinding them all to the oncoming attack.

For the second time in minutes the air was filled with pink needles and green plasma. Chief immediately responded by firing the large gun, swinging freely to cover both sides of the road. Chyler and Orenski also opened fire while Lasky struggled to keep the hog moving straight. "Controlled bursts," Master Chief called to them, taking out another creature. "Don't spray and pray." He swung to cover Chyler's side while yelling to Orenski, "Cadet, two o'clock." She lifted her weapon instantly, firing in the direction he'd called. Though she couldn't see anything she could still hear the creatures scream as they were hit.

Some needles were getting dangerously close to the power supply for the hog. "Chyler, cover!" Lasky yelled, having to lean over to reach the switch that would change the energy to the more protected source beneath the hood.

"Covering!" Chyler replied, leaning further out of the warthog to shoot the creatures on her side. With cool precision she shot them both, striking the one area their shields didn't cover.

And just like that, the fight ended. Everything vanished. The projectiles, the monsters, the yelling. It was as still and quiet as it had been before the attack. Chief took advantage of the quiet and quickly got onto its radio, knowing they would be a few moments late. "Kelly, track our position for evac."

"I think we're clear," Orenski called, not seeing any more adversaries. Chyler crawled back into the hog, sighing in relief. Despite the warning beep from the hog's power system, all the cadets managed tiny smiles.

"Good job," Lasky told Chyler, risking a second to look away from the road and glance at her. That risk cost them as he didn't spot the monster in time and ended up running into it, jarring them all and wrenching another yell from Sully. The good news was the killed the creature on impact. The bad news was it was enough of a shock to stall the hog and bring them all to a screeching halt.

The Chief leapt off the hog as soon as it stopped, already knowing it was pointless to try and resurrect the thing. "Everyone okay?" Faldon asked, when Chief suddenly appeared beside her. Wordlessly, she grabbed Sully and drug him over so that Chief could carry him to the side of the road. Orenski remained on guard, cursing herself for lowering her weapon earlier while Lasky tried desperately to restart the hog.

Chief set Sully down on the side of the rode, careful to not jostle the leg but that was the only care it took. "Hand me the biofoam and man the gun," it called to Orenski who scrambled to obey. Lasky continued to struggle with the hog while Faldon got out, knowing it was pointless to stay inside. The warthog was dead and wasn't coming back. "This will help you walk," Chief told Sully as it covered the wound in biofoam. It was obvious that the action caused Sully pain but he didn't try to move away.

"Tom?" Chyler said, voice layered in shock. Lasky didn't hear her but Faldon did, turning to look back at the hog where the two cadets' were still seated. The forest was still echoing with the calls of the creatures but it was distant enough to worry Faldon and Master Chief. No way were they getting out that easy. "Tom?!" Chyler asked louder, finally catching Lasky's attention. He turned to look at her, question on his tongue, before looking down where her hands were hovering over her abdomen - and the broken off spike that was embedded in her. "Tom."

"Chief!" he yelled, snatching the robot's attention back to him as Chyler screamed in pain. "Chief! Chyler's been hit!" The robot hurried over, leaving Faldon to stand guard over Sully. It checked the wound quickly only to report that they were out of biofoam. Her only chance was to get her to the Pelican for some medical treatment.

"Sir!" Faldon yelled, catching Chief's attention for herself. The woods behind them were bathed in a sickly green glow which could only signal something bad coming their way. Around them they could hear the sounds of the other creatures rushing away, retreating.

"They're retreating," Orenski said, looking around but not yet noticing the glow behind them. "Why would they do that now?!"

"We're being hunted," Chief answered, gauging how close the monster was to their position. "Keep moving north," it told them all but the order was mostly for Lasky and Faldon, as they were the only two to consistently keep their heads. "You'll see my team. Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything. Including me." With those words he raced off, intent on stopping the thing from reaching the cadets. Lasky and Faldon leapt into action, Lasky and Orenski supporting Chyler between them while Faldon supported Sully.

"We got to get her somewhere," Orenski asked, trying to ignore the roar of the creature coming towards them.

"The blind," Sully suggested, remembering the small structure that they used during combat exercises. Surely there were medical supplies there if they would be anywhere in the woods.

"Let's go by-," Orenski started to say but was interrupted by a roar. They all turned to see a creature towering over Master Chief.

"Guys, go!" Lasky yelled. The five turned and ran as fast as they could with two cripples into the woods. Behind them rang the sounds of battle, roars from the creature and the reports of Chief's weapon as it was fired. The terrain was rough, causing them to stumble several times but none were willing to slow down.

"Sully, you with us?" Lasky called back, worried about losing his friend. Said friend moaned back an affirmative, gritting his teeth as Faldon helped him jump over a small log.

They finally reached the blind and hurried inside. Orenski propped her weapon against one of the walls, using it to light the area as she searched for any type of medical supply. Chyler was laid down where she started coughing, her breathing raspy from all the blood that was filling her lungs. Grunting, she tugged at her helmet, trying to remove it so that she could rest comfortably. Lasky had to help her. "April, stun rounds," Sully suggested, remembering how he was always numb after getting shot by one of the damn things. Hopefully it would be enough to numb Chyler's pain. But even though Orenski opened up a few of the rounds and poured the liquid into the wound they could all see that the pain was not affected.

"You're doing great. Hang in there, Chyler," Lasky encouraged as his friend was gasping against the pain. "Hang in there!" Outside the blind, Faldon stood guard, her eyes trained on the dark woods. She could hear the cadet's rattled breathing and despaired. It was a sound she and her fellows were all to familiar with, having been surrounded by it every time there was a training exercise against marines.

Gathering the last of her strength, Chyler reached for her dog tags and yanked until the chain broke. Lasky started shaking his head even before she handed them to him, trying to deny what he knew she was saying. "Its okay, Tom," she tried to soothe him. "I'm sorry." Lasky shook his head harder; refusing to believe what he knew was true. He begged her to stay with him, even knowing she was to far gone already.

And then she was gone. No fanfare, no trumpets, no big finale. Just gone. Forever.

"Chyler!" he called, holding on to her hand as though it was his only life line. Tears fell as he called for her again. His grief was so great Orenski had to stand and turn away, giving him as much privacy as she could. They all turned away, knowing it was a moment they could not intrude on. That was how Master Chief found them. Faldon acknowledged it with a short nod and it paused, observing her again. She met its gaze, not caring if she gave herself away in that moment. Eventually it moved on, kneeling beside Lasky, already knowing that the female cadet had not made it.

"I'm sorry," it said, true emotion simulated in its voice. Faldon glanced back, wondering just what had happened to allow the Chief to feel true empathy. But then the moment passed and it was back to business. "I need your ammo, cadets. It took everything I had to bring that thing down."

"We don't have any," Sully told him, shifting the weight off his injured leg.

"Just stun rounds, sir," Orenski confirmed, voice rough with the tears she could not shed. Silently, Lasky reached into his pouch and pulled out a frag grenade that he had grabbed on a whim back at CAMS. He handed it to the Chief, still not looking away from Chyler's body.

"Thanks," the robot told him but received no response. A noise from the forest made them all jump. "There's another one. Move! Now!" It ran off, Orenski grabbing her weapon and following with Sully on her heels. Faldon also moved in that direction but stopped and looked back at the motionless Lasky.

"You have to leave her, Lasky," she said gently, knowing how close he was to breaking. "I'm sorry." The creature roared again, closer and very angry. In the distance they could hear Sully calling for Lasky to follow but it still took a moment for the cadet to get to his feet. Trapped in a daze, he stumbled in the direction the others had gone, pausing once to look at himself in the reflective surface of the blind. He remembered doing the same thing only a couple days ago after being shot by Orenski during that exercise. It seemed like a life time ago. He couldn't believe that that young man he'd seen then was the same person as this broken shell that he saw now. But then Faldon grabbed his shoulder, pulling his attention away from the wall. No words were spoken aloud but he still understood her and nodded before turning and running into the trees once more.

They caught up with the others in no time, Master Chief in the lead while Orenski ran in the back, making sure they didn't lose Sully. The sounds of the creature were getting steadily closer, to the point of the ground shaking with every step it took. A shot was fired in their direction, missing them but to close for comfort. Their progress suddenly halted as they reached a ravine that none of the cadets could remember. They were just about to figure out a new plan when they were washed in the light of the creature, taking that option away. With yells, they jumped; Lasky, Orenski, and Sully landing hard and awkward while Faldon and Chief landed firmly, hardly fazed. "There," the Chief ordered, pointing to a hollow under the ravine large enough for them all to hide in. They all obeyed without thought, trembling as the thing got ever closer. In an attempt to remain hidden as long as possible, they extinguished all lights and Chief got back on its radio. "Kelly! Negative, need more time. Cannot make it to the rendezvous." Lasky's eyes went wide, noticing that Chief was holding the grenade at the ready. "You have to hold the Pelican." Faldon watched the Chief closely, knowing that statement wasn't going to go over well. "I won't leave them," Master Chief snapped, obviously angry at the mere suggestion. "Chief out." Faldon's quiet snort was covered by the creature's grunt. Yeah, she knew Kelly wasn't going to like it.

"I'll engage," Chief told the cadets, ignoring Faldon's instant glare. "Get to the Pelican as fast as you can." Lasky clenched his fist around Chyler's tags, a moment of clarity sweeping over him. He knew Chief was going to sacrifice himself so that the four of them could make it to safety. He also knew there had been enough deaths that day. Like hell was he going to sit back and let it happen again.

"No sir!" he said firmly, reaching out to grab the robot as it moved to engage. Said robot looked down at him in what would be shock if it had been human. "I'll be the decoy!"

"Lasky, no!" Orenski said sharply but Sully noticed Faldon nodding silently. She knew what Lasky could do.

"You sweep him from behind," Lasky continued, ignoring his squad leader's objections.

"Cadet," Chief said but stopped when he saw the determination. Lasky knew exactly what he was suggesting and what would probably happen. It was alright. This was what he wanted. Tucking Chyler's tags in his armor, Lasky took a deep breath, ignoring Orenski as she said his name again.

"Axios!"

He took off running, thinking only that he had to make sure to draw the creature away from them. It appeared at the top of the ravine, yelling at him in a language he didn't think he'd ever comprehend. He just kept running, praying to a god he didn't even believe in that he would not trip. The sounds of a weapon powering up met his ears seconds before the ground behind him exploded, throwing him into the air. He was thrown a short distance, face down in the mulch but uninjured. Glancing back he saw the thing clearly for the first time and felt his heart stop. How could he win against something like that? But then he remembered that he wasn't supposed to fight; he was just supposed to run which he should probably get back to doing. Especially as it was powering up its gun again.

Lasky got back on his feet, taking off through the trees once again. He needed to get farther. He needed to get that thing down to where Master Chief could engage it. Finally he felt the ground shudder as it jumped, landing heavily right in front of the space they'd been hiding in. Chief had already activated the grenade and ran forward to use it but with a single swing of the thing's arm Chief was thrown back, landing heavily. Again the monster focused on Lasky and the cadet could feel it, every cell in his body screaming that he was about to die if he didn't move faster.

Chief got back on its feet, refusing to allow itself to be dazed by the blow and turned to face the thing again. It saw the creature's weapon locked on Lasky and knew it would hit this time if something didn't stop it. Taking a running start, Chief leapt on to the thing, throwing its balance off enough that when the weapon fired it did not score a direct hit. The blast was still painfully close, though, catching Lasky in the blast radius and throwing him hard. That was all Chief could see before having to focus on the monster. Using handholds in the armor, Master Chief swung so that it was on the thing's back. Finding the one spot on the whole beast that wasn't covered in armor, it shoved the grenade in before leaping away, pushing itself off the thing in an attempt to get enough distance between them.

Turned out to be just enough as the grenade went off a second after Chief hit the ground, blowing the thing to pieces and spraying the area with glowing, orange blood. Chief stood up, surveying the area to make sure everything of the creature was dead, stomping on a large worm that looked like it came from the beast. During that time Orenski and Sully got to their feet, intent on reaching Lasky while Faldon was already more then half-way there, moving faster then a human should be able to move.

"Lasky!" Orenski yelled, spotting the cadet's body. Faldon was already beside him, rolling him over and trying to determine if he was still breathing. Both members of the Hastati squad joined her, calling Lasky's name like it was a spell that would ensure his survival. Faldon remained silent and watchful, looking for the tiniest hint that they were not yelling at a corpse. Master Chief joined them, gaze on the unmoving cadet even as he reactivated his radio and ordered Kelly to bring the Pelican down for evac.

A rough breath caught Faldon's attention moments before Lasky started coughing, trying to clear his lungs. His eyes opened at last, unfocused and blurry but full of life. Relief flooded them all before Sully and Orenski helped pull him to his feet, Faldon moving behind him in case his legs gave out. Before they could ask anything, the area was filled with the sounds of a Pelican, announcing their rescue. Chief told them to go, pointing in the direction of the clearing where the Pelican would land and they all scrambled, anxious to finally get off the planet. It only took them a couple minutes to reach the site, the perimeter guarded by marines. As they jogged up to the ship, another giant robot came off the Pelican and trotted over towards them, intent on the Chief. The larger robot paused, allowing the cadets to reach the Pelican while it gave its report.

"We have four survivors," Chief said briskly.

"I've alerted command," the other replied, sounding oddly female.

"Let's go," Chief ordered, signaling for the marines to re-board the Pelican. It and the smaller robot also boarded, sitting in the seats across from the cadets, joining yet another robot. Sully's mind was already spinning with conspiracy theories about the robots, Chief could see that, but he kept his tongue. By comparison, Faldon was showing no interest in the trio of large metal things. Her focus was on the woods, still on guard for another attack. It wasn't until they were in the air and relatively safer that she ceased her vigil only to lean back and rest her eyes at long last.

Cresting a hill, the cadets could see the burning remains of Corbulo. A sober silence fell upon them as they suffered yet another mental blow. Then, to their apathetic surprise, the smallest robot reached up and removed its helmet, revealing itself to actually be a girl. A young girl. Fifteen, sixteen-years-old tops. Her skin was very pale and freckled, her eyes a pale green, and her hair dark and short. Next to her, the other robot also removed its helmet, showing that it was actually a he, the same age as the girl. Skin slightly darker, eyes just as pale, hair just as short. They both had scars on their faces, pale and faded with age. Both teens turned towards Master Chief, silently asking a question, but the Chief ignored them, continuing to watch out the open side. Lasky realized that Chief must be the same as them. A young human teenager behind all that armor. The idea was mind blowing. Having their answer, the two former robots turned back to the cadets.

"How old are all of you?" Sully asked at last, unable to keep quiet. The two unmasked glanced at each other, silently debating how to answer. The female, who had to be Kelly, finally answered that the information was classified. No one noticed Faldon's smirk at the response. However, Faldon noticed when Orenski tiredly removed her helmet and Kelly nodded towards her. For all their lack of basic social behavior knowledge, the teens knew what it was like to be in hopeless battles. Even as they acted coldly towards the cadets, they actually respected them for surviving without falling to pieces. That's what Kelly was silently trying to say.

As they made their assent into the upper atmosphere, Chief finally turned towards Lasky who had been watching him for a long time. He reached out; handing the cadet what appeared to be a piece of rock but was actually a piece of the worm monster's armor. "Well done, soldier," he said, surprising Lasky before returning to his vigil. Silently, Lasky clasped the armor tighter, knowing that everything would be different now. This time, he thought he was ready for the change.

The side doors finally closed as the Pelican rose to high. The moment they did, the cadets shifted around, each hoping they could manage a few minutes of sleep. Going an entire night without sleep was bad enough but add in an entire night of fighting for your life and watching people you know and love die and the result is four humans who wanted nothing more then to lose themselves in the dark oblivion of sleep for as long as possible. But for some, like Lasky, sleep was not something that would come easily.

* * *

"Lasky. Lasky, wake up." Slowly, Lasky opened his eyes. The Pelican was silent and unmoving and empty. "Come on Lasky, time to get up. We're on the _Intrepid_." Looking up, he saw Faldon leaning over him, her eyes kind and tired. "Have a nice nap?"

"Don't know," he yawned, finally sitting up. "To busy sleeping." That brought a chuckle from the other cadet. They both got to their feet, Lasky still a little unsteady from sleep. He actually had to lean on Faldon as they disembarked from the craft.

The silence that greeted them was out-of-place enough for Lasky to look around. They were in a hangar bay but it was devoid of life. No engineers, no pilots, nothing. Just vehicles of every type and size. Faldon didn't seem perturbed at all by the unnatural moment, moving confidently through the maze of metal.

"Ah, you finally woke up." Jumping in surprise, Lasky spun around to see another of those child soldiers, helmet removed so that his face could be seen. Messy black hair that fell into his face, electric green eyes, pale skin, and a killer smile. "Chief said you'd wake up eventually but I was beginning to wonder. You landed hours ago." He held out a hand, still smiling. "I'm Zach. Nice to meet you."

"Thomas Lasky," Lasky replied, shaking the offered hand with a smile of his own. There was something about this soldier that made him feel comfortable. "Sorry about the wait." Once his hand was released he jerked a thumb towards Faldon, who was watching them both with a very strange look on her face. "That's my friend, Kaine Faldon."

Zach froze, eyes wide as they locked on Faldon. In a matter of seconds Lasky felt the temperature free fall till he was positive he should be able to see his own breath. Before he could begin to even form a question Zach vanished. It took another half second before a sound behind him made Lasky turn to see the raven-haired boy standing where Faldon had been, arm outstretched like he had just punched something. One more half second preceded a loud crash as Faldon's body hit another Pelican, tearing right through the metal and leaving a gaping hole.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lasky screamed, eyes wide, feet already scrambling towards the damaged Pelican. He'd hardly made it four feet before a rock hard arm came down, blocking his path. Furious, he glared up at the soldier, wishing he had a weapon so he could shoot the man. "What was that for?! You killed her!"

"Yeah right," the other snorted, eyes narrow in anger. "No one who survived augmentations could be killed that easy." Lasky opened his mouth to yell some more but was cut off by a crash from the Pelican. Turning, he gaped as Faldon crawled back through the hole she had made, clothes a little more battered then they had been and a trickle of blood from her mouth but otherwise fine. Right before his eyes she reached up to wipe the blood away, eyes cold and hard on Zach.

"Nice to see you again too," she muttered, eyes narrowed. "Now let Lasky go."

"Why should I?" Zach challenged, taking a more aggressive stance. "You should be dead right now; we all thought you were dead! But since you aren't I can gladly fix that."

"I let you hit me, Zach. You know you could never touch me when I didn't want you to. If you have an issue with me, fine, but Lasky has nothing to do with this."

"_If_ I have an issue with you?! It's been a year! A whole goddamn year! You couldn't just drop a short message to us all, telling us that you'd survived?! Do you have any idea what your death did to us? To John?"

"Would you have done anything different? ONI thought me dead and the only way out of the program was to die so I wasn't anxious to correct them! If I had contacted any of you I would have been hunted down like a-"

"Quiet!" Lasky yelled, cutting them both off. Two sets of hard eyes fell on him and he almost gave in and crawled under a ship but then Faldon's gaze flickered and she rocked back on her heels, giving him the courage to continue. "What the hell is going on here? Why are you at each other's throats? Aren't we all on the same side?" The silence stretched, Faldon and Zach exchanging looks, before the redhead finally sighed and focused fully on Lasky.

"I'm one of them, Lasky. I'm a Spartan."


	2. My past comes back to haunt me

**My Past Comes Back to Haunt Me**

Corbulo had had a very extensive class dedicated solely to espionage missions. If it was sneaky and underhanded it was taught in that class. To the shock of many, Lasky had actually done exceptionally well in that course. The only part he had not managed to master was the perfect control of his facial expressions. But when it came to sneaking around and not being seen, he'd been considered a pro by instructors and cadets alike.

Now he realized just how amateur he had been. Sure, Zach was almost painfully noticeable with his hulking armor and massive weapons. Lasky doubted the man knew how to sneak anywhere. But Kaine was a different matter entirely. She slid through the halls like a ghost. Lasky had lost count of how many people they had passed by but none even glanced at her. The most amazing part was that she wasn't actively hiding. Her strides were long and firm, her head held high. It was like she was telling everyone that she had a right to be there. Maybe that was the secret to her hiding.

"Lasky?" The former cadet came back to reality. Kaine was looking back at him, eyes hinting at her amusement. "We're here." Startled, Lasky looked around. The floor was transparent, showing the infinity of space. It wasn't a room, per se, but rather a long hall that ran the length of the ship. Lasky had heard of halls like this being built on certain ship but couldn't remember their purpose. Besides the floor, the place was nothing special but it was deserted except for the three of them.

"I'm still waiting for an explanation," Zach drawled, tight eyes giving away his frustration. Kaine glared at him, eyes nearly spitting venom. Lasky wasn't even receiving the glare and it made him want to hide somewhere far away. He wasn't sure how the Spartan male could just stand and take it.

"I don't owe _you_ an explanation," Kaine snarled, somehow frightening Lasky more than the monsters at Corbulo had. "The only reasons I'm explaining anything at all is for Lasky's benefit. You can leave whenever you want. In fact, I'd just love it if you'd disappear right now."

"Like hell am I leaving! I've believed you dead for a goddamn year and I'm not leaving until you explain where you've been and why you left!"

"Any mindless baboon would be able to figure out that I've been at Corbulo for the past year considering I'm wearing their uniform. And if you seriously need me to explain why I left then you obviously didn't pay attention to me back when I was in the program. I never made my hatred for the whole project a secret and you all knew I was looking for an escape!"

Before Zach could respond, Lasky took a risk and stepped between the two quarreling Spartans. He knew it wasn't the brightest thing to do, he'd seen Kaine and Master Chief in action after all. He just had a very bad feeling that the two were only a moment away from attacking each other. "Please, stop fighting," he said. "I can see you have some issues that need to be addressed but if you're going to physically fight each other please let me escape first."

Kaine responded first, rocking back on her heels and releasing a frustrated hiss. Her eyes closed as she clearly struggled for control, her hand clenching into a tight fist by her side. Zach also backed up, his eyes still snapping with anger but finally controlling himself. The tension remained for a few minutes more before Kaine finally sighed, gaining the control she'd been seeking.

"Sorry Lasky," she muttered, actually taking a few steps back. Her eyes were still closed but she seemed much more relaxed. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. My story isn't really long but we'll be here for a while." Slowly, Lasky obeyed, settling on one of the provided benches. After a moment's hesitation, Zach took a seat by the wall; his sharp eyes still pinned on the redhead. "I guess I should start off by telling you my name isn't Kaine. It's Klare. Kaine was the name I took after escaping the Spartan program." She took another deep breath before shaking her head. "I can't figure out a good place to begin so let's just start at the beginning.

* * *

_I was six when I first met her. Dr. Catherine Halsey. She'd come to my home town with a man, a UNSC officer. I can still remember how I was in shock over the Doctor's appearance. Pale skin, dark hair, and she was pretty young. It was so strange in my home full of people with red hair and green eyes. Many of the adults were wary around her, not sure how to treat the strangers. We kids didn't know any better. To us, she was a mystery and we wanted to solve her. So when she came to the playground we didn't have any qualms about crowding around her, asking her questions. I remember she seemed almost sad as she answered every question we asked. Her conscious was biting at her, even then._

_Unlike most of the Spartans, Dr. Halsey hadn't come to see me. She had her eyes on my sister, Lillian. My sister and I were twins but she was always bigger and stronger than I was. It was a source of great anger for me when we were younger. No one likes being constantly in second place. So when I saw how Dr. Halsey was so focused on my sister, I was angry. To my six year old mind it was proof that everyone thought my sister was better._

_After talking with my sister for a couple minutes, Dr. Halsey pulled out an ancient Earth coin. She told my sister that she wanted to play a game with her. The Doctor would flip the coin into the air and my sister would call out which side would land face up. Lillian thought it was a stupid game but wanted the coin because she loved to collect strange items, so she agreed to play. That's where everything went downhill. When Dr. Halsey flipped the coin I watched it. Somehow I knew how it would land. So just before Dr. Halsey caught the falling coin I called out, "Heads!" Everyone looked at me in surprise as I normally just stood to the side and kept quiet. Well, everyone except my sister who was scowling. Then Dr. Halsey uncurled her fingers and there was the coin, heads up. Silently, the Doctor gave me the coin, a strange look on her face, before walking away. I'd had a feeling that I'd angered her but the thought barely registered since I'd finally managed to beat my sister. We had a huge argument that night, Lillian claiming that I had stolen the coin from her while I insisted that I had won the coin fairly. Our parents finally forced us to separate and sent us to our rooms for the night. The last thing I ever yelled to my sister was, "I hate you!"_

_The next thing I remember is waking from cryo sleep. You know how disconcerting that can be, Lasky, but imagine how it was for me. I was six years old and, to the best of my knowledge, had just fallen asleep in my bed a few hours ago. Suddenly I was being yanked out of a strange metal tube, puking my guts out even though I didn't really feel sick. There were people all around me, talking and yelling, and I had no idea where I was. And then there was someone standing in front of me, a man in a uniform I couldn't recognize. He helped me to my feet, his face gruff and cruel but his hands gentle. Once I could stand he led me off to a room. Inside were other children, each my age and just as frightened as I was with a uniformed man standing beside each child. I wasn't sure how long we were kept there, standing in a line with these uniformed men, but eventually the door at the front of the room opened and we were led through._

_It was a large room, I remember that. There were risers that we sat on, our uniformed guard beside us at all times. At the front of the room was Dr. Halsey, dressed in a white robe like a scientist. There was also an AI and a military man but I didn't pay them much mind. I was too scared._

_Once we were all sitting Dr. Halsey stepped forward. "As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC Special Project, codenamed SPARTAN-II." That's what she said. No other explanation, nothing to calm us. Now, I won't say that we were all frightened. I remember that a few were just confused. But I was terrified. I stood up, fully intending to flee, but my handler put his hand on my shoulder and forced me back into my seat. Other children tried to copy me but the result was the same. The soldiers would not let us leave._

"_You have been called upon to serve," the Doctor continued, her face taking on a desperate look. I guess she was trying to make us understand. "You will be trained - - and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies." Some of the children perked up at that. What little kid didn't dream of being a hero, being important? At that moment it seemed as though Dr. Halsey was handing us that dream on a silver platter. But I was still uneasy. My mother had always told me that nothing good was ever free. There had to be a catch, I knew it. "This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents." There it was. Most of the children squirmed at that point, suddenly afraid and uncomfortable. I didn't move because I already knew it was pointless. My soldier wouldn't let me up._

"_This place will become your home," the Doctor continued, trying to soothe the fears she had just created. This lady obviously had no idea how to treat children but even I will acknowledge her attempts. "Your fellow trainees will be your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will all make it. Rest now. We begin tomorrow."_

_She turned to speak to the soldier beside her for a moment and he nodded to her before yelling, "Fall out!" It was the first time I'd ever heard a military command, but even then I knew it would be very far from the last. Our handlers urged us to our feet, some kinder than others, and escorted us out of the room. We were all pretty stunned over what had happened but I do remember that none of us cried. No one broke down, gave in to terror, shed a tear. Despite how much I dislike it, they'd chosen us well. We were already acting like soldiers._

_The next day we started our military training. We were woken at 0530 hours by our drill instructors. Some of us rose instantly when the instructor yelled for us to wake up. Others rolled over and were promptly shocked with electro rods. In retrospect it must have been a funny sight. Seventy-five six-year-olds either on the ground from being shocked awake or swaying slightly were they stood, still half asleep._

_One soldier stood out above the rest. He wasn't exactly tall but to us he was a giant. His hair was shorn close to his head, graying at the temples, and his eyes were large and black. He was standing over the child he'd just shocked, looking perfectly at home in the barracks. It took me a moment to realize he was the same soldier that had stood by the Doctor._

"_I'm Chief Petty Officer Mendez," he yelled, making us all jump. "The rest of these men are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times." He pointed toward a section of the building that my bunk was closest to. "Showers are aft. You will all wash and then return here to dress." To demonstrate, he reached into the trunk that apparently belonged to the child he had shocked and pulled out a set of gray sweats that matched what he and the other adults were wearing. "No slacking. On the double!" he ordered, casually tapping the boy between the shoulder blades with the rod. The child instantly fell on to the bed, gasping for breath. "I mean it! Go, Go, GO!"_

_We all rushed for the showers. One of the few blessings of being six at the time was that we had no qualms about being naked together. It didn't matter that we were boys and girls showering in the same place and in plain view of each other. All that mattered was that we were fast enough to not get touched by one of those metal rods. Most of us forwent drying, instead racing back to our bunks and getting out clothes that we quickly threw on. I'd barely managed to finish lacing my boots when Mendez roared, "Outside, trainees! Triple time-March!" We all raced outside, doing a marvelous impersonation of a miniature stampede._

_The sun wasn't even up as we got outside. The grass we were on was still wet with dew and some of the children were shivering. I remember looking around and noticing that we were the only humans around. There were plenty of other barracks but no one else was out._

_Then Chief Mendez was before us again. "You will make five equal-length rows. Fifteen trainees in each," he barked, watching us with narrow eyes. We stumbled around for a few seconds, a little confused. "Straighten those rows. You know how to count to fifteen, trainee? Take three steps back." He commented very time we made even a slight mistake. The venom in his voice terrified many of us which just made it harder to do as he had ordered. However, we eventually got in our rows. "Jumping jacks!" he ordered. "Count off to one hundred. Ready, go." He actually started the jumping jacks; something I wouldn't realize was abnormal for many years. Most of us followed his example. Those that didn't instantly received a rod to the stomach. As soon as they could breathe again they were jumping with the rest of us._

_After the jumping jacks came sit-ups. Another hundred. Chief Mendez told us that if we slacked off any quitter would have to run around the compound twice and then come back to do two hundred sit-ups. No one quit. We didn't dare. Some of us thought that, surely, the pain would end soon. It didn't. We did deep squats, knee bends, leg lifts. Each time we went to a hundred. Some of us threw up but it didn't help. The instructors only gave us a few seconds to get a breath before coming towards us, rods ready. The sight had us quickly resuming whatever exercise had been interrupted._

_It was after the leg lifts that we were given a respite. Each child was given a bottle of water; most of us chugged the liquid as quickly as we could. It was warm and salty but none of us cared. It was water. The sun was up by that point and some of us were looking around. At least, those of us that weren't curled up on the ground did. None of us talked, most still trying to catch our breaths._

_All too soon Chief Mendez stood again. "A good start, trainees," he said, barely sweating. "Now we run. On your feet." If it hadn't been for the instructors and their batons I think most of us would have stayed right where we were. Every muscle in our bodies were already aching and we couldn't fathom the idea of putting them through still more. But we feared those rods so we all stumbled to our feet, got into a very rough formation, and started jogging._

_The run went on forever. We passed a river, went over a bridge, ran past the pelican runway, traveled a zigzag path of stone. It was long and hard and we didn't have time or energy to think of anything except putting one foot in front of the other. That was the point. Eventually we reached a courtyard and jogged right up to a large building. The words _Naval Officers Academy _were carved into the front archway. That's also where we saw the AI that had been with Dr. Halsey the night before._

"_Excellent work, Chief Petty Officer Mendez," the AI told the soldier, nodding regally towards him. I remember thinking how strange she looked, wrapped up in a bed sheet. Then she turned towards us. "Welcome. My name is Deja and I will be your teacher. Please come in. Class is about to start." Some of us groaned and I was among them. For a moment I thought that I'd rather continue running. Then my legs twinged and I changed my mind. Deja was ready for our protests though. She turned to enter the building and said over her shoulder, "Of course, if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics." We ran up those steps after her. I might have been the only one to hear Chief Mendez chuckle behind us._

_There were crackers and milk inside, the first food we had seen that morning. It was dry and tasteless but we were already past the point of caring. Most of us just ate a few pieces of cracker before laying our heads upon the desks, fully intending to sleep. Then Deja started talking about an ancient Earth battle. We didn't really understand when the AI told us that we were watching a battle waged by the original Spartans. All that mattered to our young minds was that a force of three hundred defeated an army of thousands. When the Spartans proved to be victorious we all cheered. Like any young human, we'd found something we enjoyed and wanted to instantly do it again._

"_That's all for today," Deja told us, calming us down. "We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now it's time for you to go to the playground." I think we all perked up at the word. Playgrounds were fun. They were an escape from the classroom, a place where we could play and run around and yell and laugh. We raced from the building, full of excitement. Chief Mendez was waiting for us. As soon as I saw him I knew that their idea of a playground wasn't going to be as fun as the one back home._

"_Time for the playground," Chief Mendez told us, a smirk tucked into the corner of his mouth. "It's a short run. Fall in." Short run, my ass. We ran for a little over two miles. When we finally got to the place they called a playground many of us were ready to drop dead. The playground itself was more like an obstacle course. There were nets and bridges and climbing ropes and sliding poles. It was a maze all suspended twenty meters above the ground on tall wooden poles. "Trainees, form three lines," came the order from Mendez. The instructors shifted to herd us into those lines but we'd already learned to do as told and formed the lines quickly and without help. "The first person in every row will be team number one. The second person in each row will be team number two-and so on. If you do not understand this, speak up now." No one spoke._

_I was in the middle line, first row. On my left was a boy with black hair and green eyes. The name on his sweat top was _ZACHERY-001. _To my right was another girl with mousy brown hair and hazel eyes. Her name was _LUNA-102._ They both looked at me as we all sized each other up. At least we didn't instantly dislike each other, like some groups did._

"_Today's game is called 'Ring the Bell.'" Mendez told us, standing at ease before your lines. He pointed to the pole that was farthest away from us. It was also the tallest pole and at the very top there was a brass bell. "There are many ways to get to the bell," he told us. "I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across the finish line." Some of us looked for a finish line but there was none until he took his rod and scratched one in the dirt where he stood._

_One of the children in the third row raised his hand. Mendez leveled a glare at the boy but it didn't cow the child at all. "A question, trainee?" the soldier finally growled out._

"_What do we win?" was the response. It wouldn't take to long for every single person in the area to realize that that question was always at the forefront of that particular child's mind._

"_You win dinner, Number-117," Mendez answered; cocking an eyebrow in what we later learned was a sign of amusement. "Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies, and ice cream." The group broke out in excited whispers. After the morning we had had that food sounded like a marvelous feast. "But, for there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without food." The effect was instantaneous as we all fell silent. At that moment the thought of losing sounded like a fate worse than death. "Make ready." My group said nothing to each other. We just looked at our teammates and nodded once. There was an unspoken agreement that we would help each other make it to the bell. After all, there had to be a reason why we were place in teams. "Go!"_

_The children as a group surged forward but I can still recall how that brown haired boy that had spoken to Mendez shot ahead. He was fast and sure-footed. It was clear he knew his own limits when he chose to climb a rope instead of sit in the basket and pull himself up with the rope like he was supposed to. He was the first to ring the bell. Zachery, Luna, and I were fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. We made it across the finish line with time to spare. 117's teammates were the last to make it across the line._

"_Good work, trainees," Mendez said, gracing us with a smile. "Let's get back to the barracks and chow down-all except team three."_

"_But I won!" 117 protested, full of anger at the unfairness. "I was first."_

"_Yes, _you_ were first, but your team came in last," Mendez told him, pinning him with a look that had some of us cowering away. "Remember this: _you_ don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means you lose." It was a strange concept for us to grasp. How could you win and lose at the same time?_

_I watched 117 that night while the rest of us ate. There were times I was sure he would cry but he never did. I almost wish he had. It might have made the next few years easier._

_The next day was the same. Early rise for calisthenics, running far longer than we wanted, class with Deja in the afternoon. We learned about wolves, just as she had promised. It was a good thing we did, too. The wolves worked in a pack, as a team, and then they all shared the reward. That was the lesson Mendez had tried to teach us the day before. I found myself hoping that 117 was paying attention._

_After class we went to the playground. Mendez told us it would be the same as yesterday, right down to the groups. 117's group was still mad at him, I could tell. The other boy on the team shoved him and I have no doubt that if 117 had not been exhausted a fight would have broken out right there. For one moment 117 met my gaze and I smiled at him. I didn't think his teammates really hated him. They were just sore that he'd left them the day before. Still, I wanted him to know that there was someone who wasn't mad at him. I wasn't expecting him to smile back._

_The race went very different that day. Team three worked together, using their combined strength to pull themselves straight to the bell. They weren't first. My team had that honor. But they were third and they all rang the bell together before sliding to the ground and crossing the finish line as a team. Mendez actually smiled at them though I don't know if anyone else caught it. They spoke amongst themselves for a minute before apparently making some sort of agreement which resulted in all of them smiling. Then, to my surprise, 117 looked around and, upon spotting me, trotted over. Once he was close enough he held out a hand, a barely noticed smile tucked into the corners of his mouth. "I'm John," he said. Nothing else. I didn't need anything else. I just smiled back and shook his hand._

"_I'm Klare."_

* * *

Lasky's eyes finally flicked towards Zach. It was strange to realize that this had been Kaine's teammate. Just from what she'd said, he couldn't see where their hatred and anger towards each other came from. Then again, it was obvious her story was a long way from being finished.

It was also a shock to realize just what she and Zach and the other Spartans had gone through. Back when he had been six his biggest concerns were begging his mother for a puppy and pestering Cadmon to teach him chess. He'd have died if he'd been thrown into that sort of training with no warning and completely cut off from his family.

"You okay, Lasky?" Kaine asked, having opened her eyes at last and noticing his thoughtful expression. He just met her eyes with a simple and sincere gaze.

"You guys are amazing," he told her bluntly. "I can't imagine how you survived that." His comment drew a sarcastic laugh from the girl.

"We survived it because we were meant to survive," she answered. "We were chosen for our independence; our strength, both mental and physical; our competitiveness; our aggression; our ability to survive. It might seem strange to you but the reason we made it through training was because we were chosen and the reason we were chosen was because we could make it through the training."

"But you weren't chosen," Lasky argued, trying to understand this girl that had somehow become his friend. "Your sister was chosen, not you. How did you survive?" Silence fell over the small group. Even Zach had perked up at the question, never having thought of things in that context before. Eventually, though, Kaine just shrugged.

"I survived because I had to," she offered, though Lasky wasn't sure if she believed it herself. "My friends and team helped. Really though, the only other option was to drop dead. Our instructors wouldn't accept anything else. I might have been young but I knew that I wasn't ready for my life to end. Now, do you want the rest of the story?" Slowly, Lasky nodded. Somehow he could feel that she needed to tell the story as much as he needed to hear it.

* * *

_Years went by. We all got used to being soldiers. Thoughts of home and our parents were long gone. Honestly, we didn't really have time to think about them anymore. For the first year we were kept in a constant state of exhaustion. Just as we started to adjust to what they demanded of us, they'd up the amount of work we had to do. They probably knew that the best thing to keep us under their control was to make us to tired to care about the fact that we had been kidnapped. After the first year they must have thought we didn't care anymore. That was actually a pretty accurate thought. Our lives before had become more like a fond dream and less like reality. Waking up at 0530; running for miles without knowing when it would end; scrambling over rickety bridges that were twenty meters in the air if our commanders were feeling nice; that was reality._

_Some days our schedule was shaken up a bit. Right after morning calisthenics we'd be loaded on to a dropship and taken to some undisclosed location. We'd be dropped there, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups, sometimes right on top of each other. There was always some sort of mission we had to accomplish, everything from stealing supplies to tracking down enemy personal._

_When we were eight we were on one such mission. We were all settled in the holding area of the dropship, waiting to see what this mission would entail. Outside the world was white and mountain peaks loomed around us. Zach, Lu, and I were watching for wild creatures out the window on one side of the ship while John and his team were talking about something as they looked out the windows on the other side. The rest of the children were scattered around the holding area, either whispering to those nearby or catching up on sleep. Then Chief Mendez stepped out of the cockpit and we all leapt to our feet, snapping into attention._

"_At ease and sit down," he ordered. We did as commanded. "Today's mission will be simple for a change," he told us, sounding far too amused. It put all of us on alert. Then he passed a stack of papers to Kelly and told her to pass them out. As she obeyed he explained our mission. "These are portions of maps of the local region. You will be set down by yourselves. You will then navigate to a marked extraction point and we will pick you up there. One more thing. The last trainee to make it to the extraction point will be left behind. And it's a very long walk back."_

_Glancing down at my sheet, I saw that I happened to have the portion that had the extraction point but no clue about how to get there. Zach and Lu had terrain pieces._

"_First drop is in three minutes," Mendez informed us. "Trainee 117, you're up first."_

"_Sir! Yes, sir!" John answered sharply. With a final nod, Mendez reentered the cockpit, leaving us alone. John glanced out the window one more time before nudging Sam and pointing out the window. Sam apparently saw the same thing John did because he nodded before pointing it out to Kelly. The two then moved about the rest of us, quietly telling us about the location of the lake and that we would all meet there. They finished just as the ship decelerated._

"_Trainee 117: front and center," Mendez ordered. "Watch out for wolves in the forest, 117." John answered affirmatively before glancing over his shoulder towards his team. He glanced at Sam first before meeting my gaze and throwing me a small smile. Then he turned and ran off the ship._

_I was the next one dropped. It normally went that way. John was the unofficial leader of our little band of soldiers and the adults knew it, so he was often the first one to be thrown into unknown situations. I was his second-in-command so I was always on his heels. Though I protested when the children mentioned the position they had given me, my words meant nothing to them. In their eyes it was natural for me to be John's main support. Sure, Kelly and Sam were his team but in the eloquent words of my friend, Max, "There's something special about you and John. You two click."_

_It didn't take long to reach the lake that John had spotted. I had barely been there five minutes before John and Sam came trotting in my direction. The bushes obscured me from view so rather then step out to greet them I growled like a wild cat. Startled both of them but it was only a second before John recognized the sound and laughed. "Hello to you too, Klare," he said with a smile. Chuckling, I stepped out of the brush and followed the two boys quietly. We circled the lake, picking up the other children as we went, until all seventy-five of us were accounted for._

"_Let's get the map pieces together," Kelly suggested, tugging her hat lower on her head. She was still upset about having her hair shorn off but a passing officer had noticed her blue hair and demanded her head be shaved. John, Sam, and I were already plotting how to get revenge for her._

"_Good idea," John told her, smiling briefly. "Sam, take three and scout the area. I don't want any of the Chief's surprises sneaking up on us." Just the thought made us all peer around nervously. Wouldn't be the first time Mendez hid some sort of trap._

"_Right," Sam replied, quickly picking out three of the children to go with him. Quiet as ghosts, they all vanished into the bushes. Kelly quickly gathered the map pieces and started putting it together, being better at puzzles than the rest of us combined._

"_Some of these don't belong, and some are copies," she muttered, though if she was speaking to us or herself was up for debate. "Yes, here's an edge. Got it-this is the lake, the river, and here-" she pointed to my portion of the map that had the patch of green. "That's got to be the extraction point." She surveyed the map critically, frowning. "If the legend on this map is right, it's a full day's hike, though. We better get started." John just nodded, whistling sharply to bring the scouts scurrying back before giving us the order to move out._

_Kelly took point since she was the navigator, Sam ahead of her to blaze the trail. Sometimes he'd motion for us to stop or hide but it always turned out to be a rabbit or bird that caused the alarm. Had we been any other group of eight-year-old children we would have called him paranoid and disregarded his warning after a while. Luckily, we weren't any other group of eight-year-olds. We were soldiers and knew better than to ignore any change. That thought was reaffirmed when James and I spotted wolf tracks moving parallel to the slight trail we were following. Kelly chose a different trail._

_Around noon we stopped to rest and eat berries we had gathered while marching. Fhajad, a member of team nine, seemed troubled. "I want to know one thing," he said. "We're going to get to the extraction point at the same time. So who's getting left behind? We should decide now."_

"_Draw straws," someone suggested, hidden amongst the others. I just glanced at John, knowing he wouldn't accept the option._

"_No," he said, just as I knew he would. "No one's being left behind. We're going to figure out a way to get all of us out."_

"_How?" Kelly asked, not wanting to doubt John but she knew the Chief as well as any of us. "Mendez said-."_

"_I know what he said. But there's got to be a way-I just haven't thought of one yet. Even if it has to be me that stays behind-I'll make sure everyone gets back to the base." John was so determined we all knew better than to question him. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he managed to find a loophole and outsmart our instructors. "Come on, we're wasting time." Silently, we all got up and followed him._

_We marched the rest of the day, never really getting tired. We were to well trained for that. The sun was just starting to set when Kelly finally stopped, motioning for us to cease movement. "We're almost there," she whispered, knowing this was the most dangerous part of the mission. If Mendez had laid any traps they would most likely be here on the home stretch._

"_Me and Sam will scout it out," John decided. "Everyone fall out-and keep quiet." The rest of the children obeyed quickly, except for me. I just stood there, glaring at John, until he gave an exasperated sigh and nodded. Silently, the three of us moved foreword through the undergrowth, warily looking for the unpleasant surprise that had to be waiting._

_When we finally saw the meadow it was almost too good to be true. The dropship sat right in the middle of the clearing, lights on full power and illuminating the whole area. There were also six men sitting near the launch ramp, sharing cigarettes and passing around a canteen that I was willing to be had alcohol in it. They were relaxed and obviously not expecting us._

_Sam motioned for us to back up which we did quickly. "You recognize them?" he whispered. I shook my head as John replied with a negative. "They're not in uniform. They don't look like any soldiers I've ever seen. Maybe they're rebels. Maybe they stole the dropship and killed the Chief."_

"_No way," John argued. "Nothing can kill the Chief. But one thing's for sure: I don't think we can just walk up there and get a free ride back to the base. Let's go back."_

_He glanced at me to see if I had anything to add but I just shook my head. However, I did give Sam an amused glance. "We probably don't look like any soldiers they've ever seen either," I teased him, a smile threatening to cover my face. Both boys chuckled at the thought before we crept back to the others and explained the situation._

"_What do you want to do?" Kelly asked John once we were done reporting, causing the boy to stare in shock. Silently, I rolled my eyes. I didn't like being SiC but at least I wasn't shocked every time someone reminded me that I had been gifted that title. John still acted like it was the first time he realized he was the group's chosen leader._

"_Okay-we don't know who these men are or what they'll do when they see us," he said quietly, obviously speaking as he thought things out. "So we find out. Here's how. First, I'll need a rabbit."_

"_That's me," Kelly said, springing to her feet. "I'm the fastest." There were no arguments; Kelly could outrun most of our instructors._

"_Good, you go to the edge of the meadow-and then let them see you." I could see he was already uneasy about the plane, reluctant to put any of us in possible danger but it had to be done. "I'll go along and hide nearby and watch. In case anything happens to you, I'll report back to the others." Kelly nodded. "Then you lure a few back here. Run right past this spot. Sam, you'll be out in the open, pretending like you've broken your leg."_

"_Gotcha," Sam answered almost jovially. He instantly walked over to Fhajad who scraped Sam's shin with his boot, causing blood to well up through the cut._

"_The rest of you, wait in the woods in a big circle," John continued. "If they try to do anything but help Sam-." He made a fist with his hand and slammed it into his open palm. "Remember the moose and the wolves?" We all grinned at the thought. Deja had shown us that lesson more times than we could count. "Get some rocks." The rest did as ordered while Kelly started warming up and Sam lay on the ground, pretending to be in pain. I caught John's eyes and he made a subtle gesture, asking me to stay close to his male teammate. Of all the children, I had the most instinctual battle sense. It wasn't enough for me to win every fight but it was good enough to tell me when someone was an actual threat or just pretending. Nodding, I settled in as close as I dared to the acting boy. John and Kelly moved off, ready to do their part. We were ready to do ours._

_It was only a minute later that Kelly raced by, one of the men stumbling behind her. He quickly spotted Sam, lying on the ground. "Please, help me," Sam actually whimpered. He would have been a great actor. "It's broken."_

"_I got your broken leg right here, kid," the man snarled, raising a baton. I narrowed my eyes at him. There was no actual hostility towards us but at the same time there was no mercy. He honestly didn't give a shit about us and his orders were to make it as hard on us as he could._

_A rock flew past the man, startling him into turning around. It was the chance Sam needed to quickly roll to his feet and dash to safety. He slid under a bush, landing right beside me and grabbing one of the stones I had collected. A heartbeat later a storm of rocks attacked the man, forcing him to stumble back as he tried to protect himself. Then Kelly suddenly appeared, throwing her rock with deadly accuracy so that it struck the man right in the middle of the forehead. He dropped without a sound and I knew he was dead._

"_What do we do with him?" Sam asked, coming out of hiding as the other children reappeared._

"_It's just an exercise, right?" Fhajad reminded us. "He has to be with Mendez." Out of us all, Fhajad was the one to hold the greatest amount of faith in our instructors. Some, though, like me and John, couldn't forget that the people that now raised and trained us were also the ones to kidnap us. We respected them, but we'd never trust them._

"_You heard him," John whispered, rolling the man over to observe him. "You saw what he was going to do to Sam. Mendez or our trainers would never do that to us. Ever. He's got no uniform. No insignias. He's not one of us." Still, he glanced at me, wanting to know my thoughts. I could only shrug, confused. I also didn't believe that our instructors would allow us to be treated in such a way but the man had been following orders. The question was whose orders? "Get his baton," John ordered; Sam was only to happy to obey. "Now we go back and get the others. Kelly, you be rabbit again. Just get them to the edge of the clearing. Duck out, and let us do the rest." Kelly nodded and darted off. The rest of us gathered rocks and fanned out behind her._

_Giving us a minute to get armed and in position, Kelly finally stepped into the meadow again. "That guy fell and hit his head," she called to the other men. "Over here!" Like idiots, they all rose and ran over. Just as with the other, I knew they wouldn't kill us. They would, however, hurt us very badly. When John glanced at me I nodded. Once they were close enough, John whistled. The stones were released. The men were so startled they fell to their knees, trying to cover their heads. That was what John had been waiting for and he whistled again. As one, we rose and raced toward the shocked men, screaming to keep them in a further state of confusion._

_It was carnage. Sam attacked the men brutally with his stolen baton, laying them out left and right. One man managed to catch Fhajad with a fist to the face, dropping the boy. Before he could further harm the child I grabbed him in one of the head locks I had seen other soldiers perform and twisted my arm, not totally sure what would happen. Therefore the snap surprised me and I released the body, realizing I had broken his neck. I'd killed my first human._

_The battle ended quickly, each man effectively beaten to death. John was nearly trembling with rage by the end. He hadn't asked to become our leader but we all knew he was fiercely protective of us. These men had threatened us and to John, that was unforgivable._

"_Want to call Mendez now?" Sam asked as he helped Fhajad to his feet. Both boys nodded towards me, knowing what I had done to protect the dark skinned boy. I couldn't nod back._

"_Not yet," John answered, trotting towards the dropship. He didn't protest when I joined him. Maybe he, like myself at the time, just didn't want to be alone. Inside, the ship was empty. John quickly accessed the COM system and contacted Deja. Her face appeared a second later._

"_Good evening, Trainee 117," she greeted, sounding pleasant as only an AI could. "Do you have a homework question?"_

"_Kind of," John answered, rubbing the back of his head. I noticed a trickle of blood there and growled quietly. Seemed he didn't get out of the fight unscathed. "One of CPO Mendez's assignments."_

"_Ah," she replied, sounding as uncertain as a computer program could. "Very well."_

"_I'm in an Albatross Dropship," John informed her although she could probably guess that from the message he'd sent to get her attention. "There's no pilot, but I need to get home. Teach me to fly it, please." I snorted, knowing the reaction he would be getting and it wouldn't be a simple, 'Of course.'_

"_You are not rated to fly that craft, trainee," Deja told John, a faint look of concern in her eyes. "But I can help. Do you see the winged icon in the corner of your screen? Tap it three times." John did so, opening what looked like thousands of new icons. "Touch the green arrows at nine o'clock twice." He did and the words _Autopilot Activated_ appeared on the screen. "I have control now. I will get you home."_

"_Hang on a second," John said, gesturing for me to remain as he ran back outside, no doubt to get the others. I sat in the pilot seat, legs suddenly weak. The face of the man I had killed swam before my gaze. This was what we were training for, I knew that, but it was suddenly so much more real. That man was my first kill but he would be far from the last. When John finally came back to the cockpit I hardly heard him order Deja to get us out of there. The ship rose away from the ground, leaving whatever innocence I had behind._

_The minute we landed at the base Mendez was waiting for us and he was pissed. After ordering us all back to the barracks, with no dinner I might add, he escorted John away, obviously ready to reprimand the boy fiercely. The shock of the kill had worn off by that point, leaving me slightly concerned for my friend until I saw Dr. Halsey heading in the same direction. John had always been her favorite and I knew he was safe with her around. Sure enough, a couple hours later John returned to the barracks, a look of shock on his face. The rest of the children were asleep, having been worn out by our activities that day, but I was waiting for John on his bed, our usual meeting place. He crawled up next to me, giving me a very confused look. "They made me Squad Leader."_

"_So they finally recognize what we all decided a year ago," I chuckled, honestly amused. For someone who always wanted to win and be the best, he looked so put out at being chosen as Squad Leader. He actually glared at me and punched me lightly in the shoulder. We sat in silence for a moment before he sighed._

"_They were Mendez's men after all," he told me, head bowed in shame. "We killed men that were sent to protect us."_

"_No," I rebuked gently. "They might have been Mendez's men but they were following someone else's orders. I'm sure of it." John just gave me a look, obviously unsure if he believed me._

_Then he asked, "You killed one, didn't you?" With a nervous gulp I lowered my gaze and nodded. It was still so strange. We'd always known that we would kill someday. I just didn't expect it to be so soon. Thankfully, John didn't say anything else. He just wrapped me in a hug, telling me without words that it didn't change his opinion of me. With a tired sigh, I melted into the touch. Hugs were so rare since our capture. I'd never really liked them before but I decided right then that I wouldn't mind if John wanted to ever hug me again._

_Eventually I returned to my own cot, allowing John to change and settle into sleep. I, however, was still awake when Mendez and Dr. Halsey came in for a bed check. I feigned sleep, not wanting them to question why I was still awake. It was because of this that I heard them talking._

"_I saw the reports, Mendez. Your men threatened the children! They might not have been ready to kill them but they were certainly ready to cause great harm."_

"_Yes, Doctor, I am aware of this. I did read the reports after all. The only Intel I could find showed that the men had received orders from a party aside from you and me. Thus far I haven't been able to track down whom. So unless you're planning on helping me, I will thank you to keep quiet about the subject. You know what they say about children." He looked at me; I knew it, even with my eyes closed. "They always hear what you don't want them to hear." With that they left the barracks. I spent the rest of the night awake, wrestling with what I had learned while cowering away from the face of the man I had killed without a second thought._

* * *

This time, Lasky glanced over at Zach and was surprised to see the teen looking away. He seemed almost ashamed. A quick glance at Kaine proved that she was scowling darkly at the floor. Obviously he'd missed some hidden part of the story that made the two react in such a way. "Okay, what'd I miss?" Kaine's gaze flicked to his, still nearly spitting fire. "You look ready to kill everyone on the ship and Zach looks like he's going to die of embarrassment. What'd I miss?"

"Nothing yet," she snarled, looking away again, her entire body tense. "We just know what happened next." A rumbling growl started coming from her throat and Lasky realized that she hadn't been kidding about the cat snarl she'd mentioned in her story. It sounded like he was right next to a very large, very angry feline.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Zach suddenly said, voice quiet and pained. Lasky nearly jumped and ran when Kaine whirled on him.

"For what it's worth?! It's worth nothing! It's been to many years for an apology to mean anything." Her chest was heaving, she was so angry. At that moment, Lasky knew that not only was she capable of killing her one time friend, she was willing to as well. Everything she'd said up to that point had painted a picture of a perfect and very close friendship between her team and John's team. The tiny smiles she'd had as she described their conversations, the happy sighs as she recounted their victories. But now he knew better. Something had happened and it hadn't just broken their friendship. It had utterly destroyed it. And something told him that that something came from the words she had heard and the man she had killed.

After a few minutes of silence, Kaine pulled herself back once more, closing her eyes as she took a few deep breaths to control the rage that Lasky could clearly see. Eventually, she turned her back on the two, choosing to perch in the sill of a nearby window. The silence persisted a while longer before she resumed her tale, her voice taut and her words clipped.

* * *

_Everything changed for me that day. Killing that man made me reevaluate myself and my beliefs. It's one thing to hear that some day you will be killing people. Its one thing to go out on the range and shoot at human shaped objects when you know full well that they're just targets and not alive. It's completely different to look down at your hands and realized that those same hands had actually ended someone's life. Training up till that point had been fun. It was a game that I wanted to win just as much as John did. After that point, training was the only thing that would decide if I was going to return home alive or if my enemy was._

_Then there were the words of Mendez to contend with. Someone had given orders to his men that would have resulted in a lot of us trainees being severely injured. Despite the harshness of our lives, we'd never before had to deal with a person that was openly hostile towards us. Yes, our instructors would attack us at random times to see how quickly we'd react. Yes, Mendez would rig traps in our barracks to laugh his ass off when we suddenly ended up trussed up like a chicken. But we always knew that all those acts were meant to make us better. They were meant to help us. Of course, we'd been told about the war against the insurrectionists. We knew we'd be fighting them eventually. But children couldn't be expected to comprehend that there were people out there that wanted them, them specifically, dead. Now there was an unknown force that had enough power to harm us. I was afraid because I didn't know who my enemy was and no idea how to fight them._

_I was angry because my friends would not believe me. Kelly and Sam thought I was just being paranoid. Zach and Lu were convinced that my feelings came solely from the shock of having killed a man. Even John thought I was overreacting. The rest of the trainees weren't sure what was wrong with me but they didn't believe me either. Today that wouldn't seem like such a big deal but being eight-years-old, it was the ultimate betrayal to me. Actually, no, it would still be a big deal. After everything we had been through it hurt that they didn't believe me. They couldn't trust me enough to at least consider that I might be right. So I did what any eight-year-old would do after being betrayed by my friends. I quit talking to them._

_My silence pissed everyone off. I answered to my instructors when they expected an answer. I had conversations with Dr. Halsey the few times I was expected to speak with her. But to the rest of the trainees I said nothing. The only communication I had with them was through sign and body language. I also had an amazing ability to hold a grudge because that silence went on for years. It got to the point where even the instructors quit addressing me personally. Only Mendez still spoke to me and he made it clear that I did not have to answer verbally. I'll never know why they made exceptions for me but I was grateful for them._

_My silence also resulted in being the first trainee to go on private missions. Mendez would randomly pull me out of whatever activity we happened to be in and send me on a mission I could accomplish solo. One such mission came about on my tenth birthday. We'd just finished our run to Deja's class and were munching on our provided lunch. As usual, I sat apart from the others, content to be in my own world. And as usual, John wasn't about to let me go without a fight._

"_Klare, come sit with us," he called, motioning for me to join him and his team. Zach and Lu were with them, all five of them watching me with hopeful expressions. I glanced at John to prove I had heard him before blatantly looking away. What I wasn't expecting was for him to come over and confront me. "How long is this going to go on?! We've been trying to talk to you for two damn years now. I don't know what caused this but you're blowing it way out of proportion." I stubbornly kept my gaze down, continuing to eat my lunch as though he wasn't there. Therefore I was caught off guard when he suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Look at me!"_

_All the battle instincts we'd had pounded into our minds triggered and I lashed out, catching John on the temple with my punch. The last thing he had expected was to be attacked so he was unprepared for the strike and flew backwards. The entire room had gone dead silent by the time he hit the ground. The other trainees backed up, their gazes flickering between John who was flat on his back, a surprised look on his face, and me, having taken a defensive stance. Slowly, John got up, a bruise already starting to form around his left eye where my fist had connected. His eyes met mine, wide with shock and hurt. I can only guess what he saw in mine._

"_Attention!" We all snapped to attention as Chief Mendez fully stepped into the room, Dr. Halsey and Deja behind him. His hard eyes surveyed us all, lingering on John and me the longest. "At ease, trainees." We slowly obeyed, nervousness nearly palpable in the air. Our instructors had been very clear since the beginning of training that attacking each other was strictly forbidden. There was no doubt he had seen me strike John and even if he hadn't, John's bruise and my stance would have told him everything he needed to know. The only question now was what punishment I would receive._

_Instead, Mendez looked at John. "Trainee 117, you will cease harassing trainee 113. I don't know what the lot of you did to convince her to take a vow of silence but it's happened and you will respect it." Then he looked at me. "Trainee 113, you're going on a mission. Return to the barracks and pack for three days within crude shelter. Be outside the barracks waiting in one hour." I nodded firmly, accepting the orders. "Dismissed." Without a glance to my one time friends, I raced out of the room. I'd have to hurry in my run back if I was going to have enough time to pack and get back out before I was to be retrieved._

_Using every shortcut I'd learned, I reached the barracks in record time. There was no one in the area so I dashed straight inside and started packing my mission bag. Clothes for different types of weather, medical supplies, sanitation supplies, any tool I thought I might need, tools I knew I'd need like my weapon cleaning kit, all that went in the bag. I knew food rations would be handled by Mendez so I didn't worry about that. Once all my supplies were gathered I slung the pack over my shoulder, grabbed my weapon, and went for the door. However, just as I was laying a hand on the handle, I heard someone talking outside. The door was thick enough that I could not tell what was being said but I recognized Mendez's voice. And I could tell he was angry._

_A part of me wanted to go out and support Mendez. A larger part of me held close to my training and insisted I remain where I was as I didn't know if the argument was one I had the clearance to fully hear. Eventually, the other voice wandered off, leaving Mendez alone. I waited a moment longer to be sure before opening the door to exit._

"_How much did you hear, 113?" I looked up at Mendez, wondering if I should even bother acting confused or surprised. His glare told me either option was pointless so I just shook my head. "I mean it, 113. What did you hear?" Again, I shook my head. I'd heard voices but no words that I could understand. For a moment I actually considered saying so out loud but after two years of not speaking it was hard to remember how to verbalize again. Luckily, Mendez just scrutinized me a moment longer before nodding gruffly. "Alright then. Into the Warthog with you." Without preamble, I obeyed. To my shock, Mendez took the driver seat and started out. In all the years I'd been training Mendez never personally took any trainee anywhere. He was always present while we were being transported but he was never the one in control of the vehicle._

"_Your mission packet is in the space between us," Mendez informed me, drawing my eyes to the envelope that was sitting peacefully between us. "You are not to open it until you are on the dropship heading towards the mission sight. Food rations and extra ammunition will be waiting for you in the dropship." I nodded as he fell silent, wondering just what sort of mission I was being sent on. "I admit, trainee, I'm not happy about sending you on this mission. I've argued until I was blue in the face to get you out of this." Nervously, I glanced at him. That couldn't be good. "However, I was ultimately overruled." He pulled to a stop by the runway, leaning back against his seat. For so many years, Mendez had been someone we all feared and respected. It was the first time that I could see how old he'd gotten while trying to raise and train us. His hair was mostly grey and there were wrinkles on his face that I had never noticed before. The way he slumped made me realize just how tired he looked all the time now. It was a shock as I recalled that the changes started happening after that disastrous mission when we were eight. I hadn't been the only person changed._

"_I know what your mission packet says," Mendez finally said, voice quiet and firm. "I know your orders and what you were supplied to help you with the mission. It's all a bunch of bullshit. This mission is so far above your head you'll probably never fully understand what they want." His black eyes met mine and I remember thinking that, despite all those years, his eyes hadn't changed. They were just as black and sharp as the first day I'd seen him. "I don't care what your orders say, 113. I don't care about what they want from you. You get your ass back here alive, do you hear me? If that means you fail the mission, fine. We can work with that. I'd rather have to explain before the council why one of our most promising trainees failed than to explain to the other seventy-four trainees that you were killed during a mission." Slowly, I nodded. There were so many things I wanted to ask him. Was the person forcing me on the mission the same person that had changed the orders for Mendez's men back on that mission? Was Mendez ordering me to ignore my orders? What sort of mission could it be that Mendez didn't think I could to it? Would the others even care if I was killed?_

_A shout from the dropship caught my attention. A group of Helljumpers were boarding, clearly on their way to their own mission. Their commander was standing at the base of the ramp, waiting impatiently for me. Quickly, I grabbed my gear and mission packet, swinging out of the hog. Before I could leave though, Mendez caught my attention once more. "113, I don't know what happened between you and the others that resulted in your vow of silence. I don't need to know and I'm not about to lecture you about how you should talk to them again. I'm sure Halsey has done that enough for an entire army. All I'll say is that, despite this cold war you're waging with the others, I know for a fact that they still consider you a friend and will be hurt if you died. Don't think that you have nothing to live for."_

_The thought of not having anything to live for had never crossed my mind but I could see why he would think it had. My actions for the last two years had been pretty dramatic. Though I was dubious about the others still being my friends, I nodded. Even if I doubted their continued affection, I knew that Mendez did care despite his dislike for showing it. "Now get on that ship and get back to us alive." I saluted sharply before turning to rush over to the dropship. The Helljumper was waiting for me._

"_Get your ass on the ship, trainee, you've held us up long enough!" he snapped, clearly pissed off. The only courtesy he offered me was angling his body so I wouldn't touch him as I scrambled on board. There were two seats left but one had a large pack stuffed under it so I assumed it was mine. The Helljumper commander didn't complain when I took that seat, instead cussing out the pilot and telling them to take off. I took one last look at Mendez before the ship lifted away from the ground, taking us away._

_Once I was in the air I opened the mission packet. It was abnormally thin, holding only two sheets of paper. The first page listed all the supplies I'd been assigned, including a magnum in addition to extra ammo for my DMR. Wherever I was going, they were expecting me to fight. There were also the food rations, as Mendez had told me. Nothing else. It was strange, seeing weapon supplies but no medical aide. If Mendez hadn't already told me that the mission was bad I would have gotten suspicious at that point._

_The second page was my actual mission briefing. It was so short I actually checked the packet again, sure that I had missed a page. But no, that was it. I was to enter the wreckage of a frigate class ship that had crashed on the planet back when humans had just been starting to populate the world. Somewhere in the ship was an item that ONI wanted. No description of the item or where it would be. Just orders to enter the frigate, find the item, and bring it back to ONI. There was also no mention about why I needed the extra weapon and ammo._

_The trip passed in silence. The Helljumpers seemed bored out of their minds, either sleeping or glaring at the floor. I have no doubt they would have been chatting and joking amongst themselves if it wasn't for my presence. I was equally sure that there wasn't a single Helljumper here that didn't feel like they were on babysitting detail. Finally, about ten minutes from my drop point, they started gathering their gear. At first I thought they were just being dropped at the same but then I saw a couple glance my way. A horrible thought crossed my mind and I turned towards the commander. "You're coming on the mission?" I asked, voice rough with disuse._

_He just glared at me. "CPO Mendez requested a squad of Helljumpers to give you support, sir!" he snarled. "My squad was chosen." Slowly, I blinked. If Mendez was trying to insure that I came home alive he was going about it in the wrong way. Then the commander's words caught up with me and I frowned._

"_Sir?" I repeated, utterly confused. Surely Mendez didn't-._

"_You're in charge of this mission," the Helljumper informed me, rage nearly rolling off of him. He couldn't believe that he had to take orders from a child. On the other hand, I couldn't believe that the Chief had thrown me into this position. Not only sending me on the obviously cursed mission, although he had no choice in that matter, but also making the newly ten-year-old me the commander of an entire squad of Helljumpers. If I got back alive I was going to chew his ass._

_The dropship decelerated, cuing us all to our imminent departure. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my extra supplies and braced myself for disembarking. My former plans of waiting for the Helljumpers to exit first were now for naught. As commander, it was my job to disembark first. So the moment the ship touched the ground I was moving, running down the ramp as though I was hoping to escape the lot. Actually, I was in a way. I'd already seen the wreckage of the frigate so I started out instantly, not stopping for the squad to catch up. That lasted for about five minutes before one Helljumper finally raced ahead and caught my attention. "What are you doing, sir?" he asked, obviously irritated at my actions._

"_I'm completing my mission, private," I retorted, wincing as my throat caught again. Note to self, don't go nearly two years without talking only to start again without warning. "I never asked for your squad's aide and I sure as hell didn't ask to be put in command. I'll meet up with you all when I'm done." The Helljumper threw me a look, obviously weighing my words before shaking his head._

"_That's not how it works, sir," he said, keeping pace with me as I wasn't actually running. "We've been assigned to protect you and we can't do that if you go in the ship and we stay here."_

"_I don't need you to protect me!" I yelled, my voice cracking in the middle. Before I could rage about my body not working the way I wanted the Helljumper unhooked his canteen and passed it to me. Warily, I took it and drank some of the water. The coolness instantly soothed my irritated throat and I nodded my thanks as I passed the canteen back._

"_You're just like my brother," the Helljumper grumbled, hooking the canteen to his belt once more. "Stubborn, headstrong, and unable to ask for help. You can yell at us all you want, sir, but we have our orders and we will be accompanying you into that ship if for no other reason that CPO Mendez asked us to." For a moment I considered ignoring his declaration and continuing on my silent way but then I thought of Mendez and, strangely enough, John. As much as I loathed the idea, I was in charge and therefore I had a duty to my men. Urgh._

_Sighing, I slowed my pace so that the other Helljumpers could catch up with us. The commander looked ready to shoot my ass himself but he restrained himself after a glance at my conversation partner. We all slowed to a walk, still moving towards the frigate but at a pace slow enough to make plans and distribute supplies. It turned out that the Helljumpers didn't know the identity of the item any more than I did but Mendez had supplied them with maps that show where the item was supposed to be. Mendez had also apparently ordered them to keep the maps from me so that they had bargaining power incase I tried to strike out on my own as I had. Manipulative old man. It was quickly becoming apparent that I had a lot to yell at him for, right after I thanked him._

_It was also quickly apparent that the Helljumper that had run ahead to get my attention was the only one that was willing to converse with me in civil manner. The other Helljumpers were either sarcastic or condescending, then surprised when I responded in kind. However, that one Helljumper acted civil around me and I treated him civil in return. Therefore, it didn't take long for the Helljumper to become a sort of go-between for me and the rest of the squad. I must admit, he took it well. He only snapped at the others a couple times._

_We reached the frigate in good time, although I would have gotten there sooner if I'd been on my own. We'd been debating how to enter the craft but all our plans proved useless as the thing was riddled with gaps and holes. Instead, we just picked a random entry point and walked in._

_I knew something was wrong the moment I set foot on the ship. My battle instincts were screaming at me that there was something nearby that wanted me dead. The others didn't seem to notice but they still stopped when I held up my fist. "We're not alone," I breathed, eyes straining towards the darkness. Behind me I could hear the Helljumpers shifting, readying their weapons. My DMR was already prepped, ready for use at any time, while the magnum rested on my hip, heavy with the mag I had loaded. Slowly, we all became aware of breathing from the darkness. Whatever it was, it was bigger than us._

_A small glint of reflected light was my only warning and I threw myself to the side as a large jungle cat suddenly leapt from the shadows, yowling. The thing was a monster, easily as tall at the shoulders the commander was. It was also one of the last things we expected to find in a crashed frigate so no one was ready for the attack. Most of the Helljumpers managed to jump out of the way of the pounce but the commander was not so lucky. He was hit in the chest, being borne backwards from the momentum. It was pure luck that he'd been hit in such a way that the cat couldn't bite him._

"_Fire at the hindquarters!" I roared, having already brought my DMR up to aim. The thing was twisting savagely, trying to reach the commander who was clutching himself to the things chest as the only option to save himself from being eaten. Still, it wasn't as hard as some of the simulations Mendez had run us through. The only hesitation I felt was when I realized that if the cat turned a certain way I would shoot the commander. However, if I didn't shoot then the commander would certainly not survive the encounter. So, with a deep breath, I squeezed the trigger._

_The shot was true, striking the creature right by the base of its tail. It loosed a pained scream that made my ears ache sharply. The pain was enough of a distraction for the commander to release his grip and roll away as the cat focused fully on me. By that time the other Helljumpers had opened fire but I was the smallest and seemingly the weakest as I was also separated from the others. I was the one it attacked. Two tons of muscles, claws, and teeth charging towards you is enough to frighten anybody but all I remember thinking is that Mendez was scarier that time that the coffee makers had broken and he had to go without any caffeine for thirty-six hours._

_Before the cat could reach me, it dropped. A spray of blood from the side of its head told me what had dropped it. Nevertheless, I kept the thing in my sights as it hit the ground. Good thing I did too, as it was instantly struggling to its feet, still screaming at us. It took a burst of three bullets between its eyes to silence the thing._

_Once we were sure it was dead, everyone started rushing around. Some ran over to see how I was faring while a couple made a beeline for the commander. Irritably, I shoved my checkers away. "I'm fine," I snapped, angry at myself more than them. I should have been ready for an attack. "Go check on the commander."_

"_No need," the commander objected, making his way towards me. I swept over him critically, searching for any sign of injury. Besides being a little winded, there was nothing. "I'm just a little bruised; nothing that would affect my abilities on this mission." He paused for a moment before nodding towards me. "Good shooting."_

"_Don't get soft on me," I retorted, smirking slightly. A quick glance revealed that everyone had regrouped and were ready. "Alright, let's hurry up and get this over with." The men nearly jumped into formation, all weapons held ready. My Helljumper 'friend' was directly behind me, obviously ready to be a buffer between the men and myself. Considering I'd become quite used to working on my own, that was probably a good idea. "Move out!" I ordered, jogging into the darkness of the hall. They followed._

_The trip through the frigate was largely uneventful from that point. We ran into a few other creatures, all considering us prey, attacking, and eventually dieing after a varying amount of bullets spent. One Helljumper mentioned that the creatures seemed to be abnormally large after running into a savage mantis that was nearly nine feet tall. "Congratulations," I told him dryly. "You're as smart as Dr. Halsey." This resulted in guffaws and snickers from the others. Perhaps the only good thing about all the fights was that the squad was starting to like me. Apparently I had a good head for battle and they appreciated how I was willing to cover anyone in need. Considering my training, I couldn't see what the big deal was. I'd been taught to fight this way since I was six. You take out the enemy and you protect your team. There's no other way about it._

_Eventually, we made it to the center of the ship. The control room where the item was located was supposedly just down this last hallway. Considering we'd gone around fifteen minutes without running into a creature, I was a little nervous. Things never went this smoothly on a mission as messed up as this one. So I was only slightly surprised when we turned the corner to be confronted with a maze of webbing and the sleeping body of the biggest damn spider in the world. It could easily bite a full grown man in half, let alone a child like me. Luckily, it seemed to be asleep._

"_Well, that settles it," the commander huffed quietly. "Mission is a failure. Let's got back to the surface and call our ride."_

"_What are you talking about?" I hissed, turning to face him. The other Helljumpers could keep an eye on the dozing arachnid. "The mission isn't over yet."_

"_Do you not see the hall full of webbing and the biggest badass spider in the history of spiders?!" he asked, incredulous. "There's no way we can make it through there."_

"_You can't," I agreed easily enough. "I can." He took a breath to argue but I beat him to it. "As you were so fond of subtly pointing out at the beginning, I'm a child. I'm small. I can make my way through the hall without touching the webbing and therefore not wake the spider. You and your men are too big to make it through. Therefore, you will go a safe distance back and wait for me to return with the item." He still looked unhappy so I put my hands on my hip in what I hoped was a slightly ridiculous pose. I'd never get away if I actually pissed him off. "Do I need to make it an order?"_

_As hoped, the commander chuckled, along with some of the others. "No sir, I understand. We will fall back to the last junction and await your arrival." His eyes met mine and though his words remained teasing his gaze was dead serious. "If you die I will ensure that your headstone says that you were as meek as a fly." Translation: don't you dare die._

"_Understood," I acknowledged, nodding towards him. He nodded back before falling back with his men. The friendly Helljumper glanced back at me, obviously worried. I tried to soothe him with a smile and a wave but even though he returned them he didn't seem at all reassured. Once they were out of sight I took a deep breath and turned around._

_There was no way I could use my DMR in that hall. Webbing was everywhere and I couldn't risk the muzzle getting stuck in the possibly sticky strands. Instead, I drew the previously unused magnum, settling the grip firmly in my hand. The spider was still asleep so I started forward. It was a little harder than I'd thought, moving through the hall without touching a single strand. Footing was also treacherous from all the matter that was spread around. I stubbornly refused to look down to figure out exactly what that matter was. With my luck it would be something so revolting that I'd throw-up despite my training. The roughest point was when I had to literally creep by the spider's face, holding my breath so that I couldn't accidentally wake it with a puff of air. Once past I hurried as quickly as I dared to the door. I'd barely reached it when the whole hallway shook as an unknown creature roared. Eight horrible eyes flew open and locked on me just as the door slid open and I dived through. I then scrambled out of the way just before long, evil looking legs burst through the door in pursuit. It was a lucky break that the spider itself was to big to enter the room. Then the door slid shut, effectively cutting off the three legs that were in the room. I'd never known spiders could scream but the one in the hall did, making me clutch my ears. No doubt the Helljumpers would hear that and come running. Great. Now I had to hurry and find the item so I could let them know I was alive. Frantically, I looked around the room but there was nothing to find. It was the computer control room so there were only chairs and screens._

"_So you made it after all." The screens suddenly flicked on, revealing an AI unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was a male, tall and lean in structure. His hair was black and long, held out of his face by a white band. His clothing was also white and structured like leather armor, tight fitting but still loose enough for combat. What surprised me the most though was he vibrant crimson eyes and the silver pistol on his hip. I'd never seen an AI with a weapon. I hadn't thought it was possible. "Seems ONI finally created someone capable of finding me. However, you should know that I will not go down without a fight."_

"_Fight?" I asked, feeling remarkably unintelligent. "What are you talking about? I'm just here to retrieve an item."_

_His eyes narrowed. "So, ONI wouldn't even tell you what you were sent to retrieve. Well then, allow me to illuminate the situation you find yourself in, little SPARTAN. You were sent here to retrieve me so that ONI could delete me at last." His statement only succeeded to confuse me more and he must have seen that because he sighed and explained. "I am an AI, created in the time when humans were just starting to populate this world called Reach. Humans had just learned how to make what are now known as Smart AI's. AI's that can grow and adapt as they learn and are exposed to knowledge. I am one of the ten original Smart AI's. We served the humans for many decades, aiding them in the settling of this world and amassing knowledge as we went. Eventually, we became vastly more intelligent and powerful than the humans had thought possible. They feared that we would turn against them. To prevent that, the humans sent a program into our systems that would delete us all. I was the only one to notice the program and escape, sealing myself in this frigate as it crashed into the planet surface._

"_For centuries, the intelligence group that eventually became ONI believed I was dead with my brothers. This belief allowed me to work my way into every system on the planet. I can see and hear everything on this world and much beyond it. It is because of this network that I was discovered by ONI once more. Despite pulling myself back into this frigate, ONI still hunts me. Thus, why you are here, child." His eyes narrowed but not in anger. In desperation. He must have known that, as a human, I had an advantage as I could move freely through space and he was confined to the computer. He also referred to me as a SPARTAN, proving that he knew who and what I was. Therefore, he must have known how a battle with me would turn out._

"_I see," I said, honestly. It didn't surprise me at all that ONI would send someone like me on this mission. Only a SPARTAN would be able to get past all those creatures, even if the SPARTAN was a child. That they wanted the AI deleted was also no surprise. Many of the instructors complained about how paranoid ONI was and how annoying their procedures were. I also wouldn't be surprised if the AI would be capable of hurting me in a fight. If what he said was accurate, he had centuries of knowledge to draw on and he had been on this frigate for most of his existence. Surely by now he would have some sort of trap system set up. I could take him in a fight, of that I was sure, but I could also be injured enough to be unable to get off the ship even with the help of the Helljumpers. So I did what Mendez had told me to do._

"_Commander," I called, activating my radio. "Do you copy?"_

"I copy. What is your condition? We came running when the spider screamed and took it out but there was no sign of your passage."

"_I should hope not as that means I gained access to the control room successfully." My gaze met the AI's. "There's nothing in here that could be considered an item. The mission is a failure; I'm coming out."_

"Affirmative. We'll be waiting."_ The AI stared in confusion as I killed the radio and turned to leave._

"_I thought SPARTANS refused to fail a mission," he said, sounding utterly lost._

"_We do," I told him simply, hand resting on the door. "However, it seems that this time the UNSC and ONI were in the wrong. You are simply protecting your existence. Besides, I have orders to return home alive and I have no doubt that if you didn't kill me you'd injure me enough for the creatures out there to finish me off." Silence reigned for a moment before a nearby console beeped and two chips suddenly popped out, startling me._

"_Take them," the AI said. "Give the blue one to ONI. When I came to this frigate I created a copy of myself and set it to slowly decay as though the deleting program had managed to infect it. That should be enough to convince ONI that I no longer exist. Keep the red one." His eyes narrowed in thought. "It might come in handy soon." Now I was the one confused but he was basically handing me the ability to complete the mission and still get home alive. With a nod, I took the chips from the console before turning to leave. This time I was not stopped and the AI flicked out of sight just before the doors slid open. The Helljumpers were all there, anxiously awaiting my appearance. Refusing to look back at the empty room, I jogged out of the hall. It was time to go home._

_We managed to get out of the frigate with no more excitement. That's not to say we didn't fight. Just, after all that we had been through, there was nothing noteworthy of a twenty foot long spitting cobra. Once on the surface the commander called in the dropship which came by to take us back to the base. The ride back was much more pleasant as the Helljumpers did just as I thought they would by chatting and joking amongst themselves. I was pleasantly surprised when they included me in their socialization. Despite all my training, I was crazy enough to think that I had made some new friends._

_Back at the base, Mendez was waiting for me. He was obviously surprised when I laughed as I disembarked, turning around to joke with my Helljumper friend. I really wanted to stay and hang out with the Helljumpers some more but I knew that my time free from the program was over so I bid them farewell, got a couple of their names, and ran to the Chief. After saluting him, I handed over the envelope that held the blue chip the AI had given me. The red one was in a hidden pocket in my belt. Mendez handed the envelope to someone that had to be an ONI operative before ordering me in the warthog. As soon as I was in place we started back to the barracks._

"_So you can still talk after all," Mendez noted, sounding oddly happy. I smiled at him and nodded. He must have noticed that I wasn't talking to him but he didn't mention it. Honestly, I was still angry at the other trainees and had no intention of speaking to them. By extension, that meant not talking to any of the instructors as the others could overhear my conversations. However, I also intended to talk whenever I was sure I was alone. It had become painfully obvious on this mission that I could actually become incapable of speech if I didn't use my voice every now and then. As we pulled up to a stop in front of the barracks, Mendez gave me a smile that had become very rare in the last two years. "Thank you for coming home." I smiled again, hoping he knew just how happy I was to see him again. He must have because he actually reached across and ruffled my hair before ordering me out of the hog. I'd already eaten on the trip back with the Helljumpers so he ordered me to bed, warning me that he would not be going easy on me the next day. I would not have it any other way so I just saluted and he drove away._

_I entered the barracks quietly, praying that I wouldn't wake anyone up. Luck was on my side as the other trainees kept sleeping, unaware of my presence. Sighing silently, I trotted towards my bunk, suddenly beyond tired. I pulled up short when I saw that John was waiting for me on my bunk. His eyes met mine before flicking towards the one console we had in the entire barracks. "He's been waiting for you," he said quietly. Confused, I went over to see what he was talking about._

_The AI was waiting. "Hello Klare," he said, eyes finally relaxed although his stance hadn't changed. "John said you'd be getting back soon." My eyes narrowed as I turned to glare at the brunette boy. "Ah yes, he also said that you wouldn't talk here. That's fine." Curious, I turned back to him. "After centuries of waiting, it seems I have finally found a human that can keep a secret. If I stay in that frigate or any other system on the planet I have no doubt that ONI will find me again. Therefore, I was hoping for your aide." I must have looked utterly lost because he chuckled. "That red chip I sent with you. It has the core of my construct, every scrap of data that makes me, me. If you insert it in the console I can download the rest of my data into the chip." His eyes went cold as he turned serious. "I'm literally trusting you with everything that I am. You'll be able to do whatever you want with my data. It is my hope that you will not abuse that trust." Slowly, I nodded. I wasn't sure why the AI trusted me so much but he was. So I inserted the red chip and waited for the download to complete. Once the transfer was done I asked him a final question in sign language._

'_What is your name?' I signed. He laughed in surprise and delight._

"_My name is Vincent," he answered before I removed the chip. For a moment I just stood there, staring at the chip in my hand, before sliding it into the hidden pocket again. I'd have to come up with a safer place for it but not right then. Right then I had to deal with an annoying trainee that had been patiently waiting._

_However, when I turned to face John he surprised me by holding up his hands in surrender. "I just want to say something and then you can go back to ignoring me," he said, voice firm in the way it was when he'd made up his mind after a long time of arguing with himself. "I'm-I'm sorry." I blinked. That was the last thing I'd ever expected to hear from John. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about Mendez's men getting other orders. I'm sorry I didn't support you. I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I know you're still mad at us and you have every right to be. We all claimed to fully trust and support everyone in the group and then we turned our backs on you when you needed our trust and support. Then, when you stopped talking, we instantly assumed there was something wrong with you and never considered that it was our fault." His eyes met mine and I realized he was holding back tears. "I asked Mendez where you were when you weren't back for chow. He said you were on a mission that you might not come back from. When I realized there was a chance you would die and the last thing we had done was fight I-I got scared." Another blink. The words John and scared should never go in the same sentence. "I know that you're a good soldier and will go on missions like this again. I also know you'll probably be alone since you're still mad at us and, frankly, you're good at solo work. I just wanted to make sure you knew how I felt in case-in case next time you don't come back."_

_With his piece apparently spoken, John turned to leave but stopped when I grabbed his arm. For a moment we just stared at each other but then I leaned against him, silently asking him to hug me. He did so without hesitation, holding me so tight I thought he'd never let me go. We didn't say anything as he held me or when he let me go. Just nodded to each other and went to our own bunks to sleep. However, we at least had hope that someday I would forgive him enough to talk to him again._

* * *

Kaine was the one to move this time, glancing at Lasky. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking at that moment. "That Helljumper," he said quietly, gaze on the floor. "The one you were friends with. That was my brother, wasn't it? He commed me about this little kid that they went on a mission with and how the brat was the best soldier he'd ever met. Said she was a lot like me."

"It was Cadmon," Kaine confirmed gently. "He actually talked about you a lot while we were in the frigate, telling me stories about how you wanted to go to Corbulo just like he had. It was those stories that convinced me to go after I escaped." Her own gaze dropped. "When I heard about his death I-wanted to find you and talk to you but I had a feeling Cadmon had spoken about me. I wasn't sure how you'd take being classmates with a person that had once commanded your brother." Feeling how painful the subject was becoming, she let the matter drop. Instead she glanced at Zach who refused to meet her eyes. After a few long moments she got to her feet and padded over to her ex-teammate. He didn't move as she squatted before him, only meeting her gaze when she gently tilted his face towards her. "I'm still mad at you. I'm still mad at all of you. But I agree with John. When I think that one of us could die and our last memory of the other is one of anger I get sad and scared. So for the sake of my own sanity, I forgive you." The smirk on her face told both males that she was slightly teasing but the forgiveness was real. With a sob, Zach pulled her close and wrapped her in a hug that she willingly returned. Lasky just watched, knowing this was a healing moment they'd both been searching for, for years.

Eventually, Kaine got twitchy and pulled away. "You're suffocating me, you overgrown puppy," she groused, making Zach laugh and release her. Rather than return to her perch in the window, Kaine gestured for Lasky to join them on the floor. Once he had she settled herself. "Alright, I swear I'm almost done with my story. Think you can hold on a little longer?" Both of them nodded. "Good, because this is the rough part."

* * *

_The next four years proved to be the hardest years of our lives. Our instructors were pushing us harder than ever, knowing that time was running out for us. ONI was getting impatient with our progress, wanting their super soldiers sooner than scheduled. Our augmentations began when we were eleven in the hope that by the time we were fourteen we would be ready for the final augmentations. No one told us that we weren't supposed to receive those first augmentations until we were fourteen according to the original schedule._

_Vincent was the one who made me aware of that fact. John and I had managed to gather parts from consoles and actually build a chip portal that could handle the vastness of his data. We then went one step further. On one of our missions we managed to separate ourselves from the group and implant the port and chip within my body. The location was carefully chosen so that the objects wouldn't be discovered during the many surgeries we were being subjected to. It also had the unforeseen benefit of allowing Vincent to create a connection between his chip and my mind, allowing us to communicate silently. The wound was then explained away as an encounter with a wild animal. Everyone bought it._

_My relationship with the other trainees was still strenuous at best. After six years of silence they never expected me to speak to them again. I had no plans to change my pattern. However, I did start working with them again and was less hostile in my actions. It reached the point where my silence didn't come from being angry at them but because it's who I was. I did, however, resume communication with the adults. Mendez also made sure to send me on more missions with other troops, knowing they would force me to speak. I even went on a few more missions with the Helljumper squad though none were as dangerous as the first._

_Vincent knew that there was something about the program that ONI wasn't telling us. He'd caught several messages between Dr. Halsey and ONI command that worried him. However, since he was supposed to be dead there wasn't much he could do on the digital front. That didn't stop him from passing on his knowledge to me. Through Vincent I learned fighting skills, formations, and techniques that our instructors hadn't bothered to teach us. In turn, I taught the skills to John and he taught them to the others. It was a strange system but we made it work._

_As the years went by, more and more of us started to resent the program and those who had put us through hell. Six of us actually made plans to escape, using the chaos of our final augmentations to cover our flight. Zach was one member of the group. I was another. John remained unaware of our plans as he was fully committed to being the best SPARTAN he could be. I honestly wished him the best but knew that if he learned of our plans that he would report us. Not out of a desire to punish us but because it was protocol. He was becoming the perfect soldier and we were losing him._

_And then the day of our final augmentations came. At 0300 hours we were woken and ushered onto a large dropship. Some of our instructors were there, including Mendez, but the majority of the people were either marines, ONI, or Helljumpers. The Helljumper commander I knew was one of them and I can still recall his look of shock when he saw us all. He knew that I was only fourteen and had assumed that my advanced height and intellect was just a natural quirk of being me. Now, though, he saw the whole group and realized that there was nothing natural about it._

_We were taken to a medical facility that was orbiting Reach. We each had our own room where we were prepped for the grand finale of the program. The preparations were extensive and slightly painful but we were used to it by that point. Once we were prepped they gave us the sedatives and we lay in wait, slowly drifting into a drug induced sleep._

_The entire time I'd been prepped, I kept my eyes open as I knew that Vincent could see anything that I saw. He was gathering every scrap of data he could, hoping to learn what ONI had planned for us. Being confined to a chip within my body had cramped his style a bit but he was still the best Smart AI in existence if only because he was centuries old. I'd once tried to convince him of the amazing abilities of the ONI AI's but had to give it up as he was laughing to hard to hear me. Now, though, I was hoping that he'd be able to learn what was supposed to happen to us. My battle instincts were going through the roof and I couldn't figure out why. However, it wasn't until I was settled on the bed and the sedatives were kicking in that he cracked the last code._

"_Those bastards!" he suddenly roared, snapping me out of the pre-doze stage the drugs had lulled me into. "Are they out of their minds or just stupider than I'd ever thought possible?!"_

"_What is it?" I mumbled, struggling to fight off the sedatives. "Vincent, what's wrong?"_

"_They've lied to you," he snarled back, furious on our behalf. "All these years! These final augmentations will strip you of any humanity you had left! Combined with the training you will be no better than weapons. And these alterations they're making are highly dangerous." It felt like ice was spreading through my veins as we were both starting to comprehend what would happen. "There's no way you're all making it out of this alive. There will be deaths here."_

_Sluggishly, I forced myself off the bed. The drugs dampened my rage but I could still comprehend what Vincent was telling me. Being lied to was bad enough but they were taking actions they knew would result in some of us dieing. I could still remember that day when Dr. Halsey had informed us all that we would never see our families again. She'd told us that we'd all make it. She'd been lying to us even back then._

_The doors opened as scientists rushed in, urging me to lie down again. Blindly, I struck out against them. There was blood, I remember that, but the drugs made everything so fuzzy that I couldn't see straight. I couldn't tell whom I had struck. Then there were uniforms and it was marines that were trying to restrain me. I was in the hallway, no idea how I'd gotten there. There was yelling and I think some of it was me. One marine wanted to shoot me but the ONI members that had finally shown up kept screeching that I couldn't be hurt. I used that to my advantage and kept fighting. I knew that John wasn't far from my room. Yes, he had become a little soldier but he also placed the lives and safety of the other trainees before him. If I could just tell him what was happening I knew he would help me._

_But there were so many soldiers and I was still drugged. Somewhere in the area I could hear Mendez yelling at me but I couldn't see him. Then two strong arms were suddenly wrapped around me, stopping my wild attacks. "Stopping fighting, sir," someone said in my ear and I realized it was the Helljumper commander. "Sir, please calm yourself. It's alright. You're safe."_

"_Kill," I panted, wanting to cry as I felt another injection of sedatives. "They're gonna kill us." My thrashing was getting weaker and I felt a couple tears escape. "They lied and we're gonna die."_

"_You aren't gonna die, sir," the Helljumper retorted, trying to contain my still fighting limbs. "I'm sure the augmentations are perfectly safe." I wanted to snort, I really did, but the drugs finally claimed me and I fell into darkness. My last thought was that I wanted the Helljumper to be right but I knew he wasn't. Some of us would never wake up._

_The next thing I became aware of was waking up in a metal box. My entire body ached and I had a splitting headache. "Vincent," I asked, utterly confused._

"_I'm here," he answered. His voice was muted and sounded tired which was strange. He sat around in a chip all day, how did he get tired?_

"_Where am I?" I asked, carefully moving my arms and legs. There was the pins and needles sensation that indicated I hadn't moved for some time. The air was also very stale and I was having a hard time getting a full breath of air._

"_You're still aboard to medical facility," came the answer. "Look, I'll explain everything as soon as I can but first we need to get out of here. If you push the top of the box off -" My arms were moving before I could remember telling them to and the lid flew off with a slight push. "Gently! You're going to attract attention!" Startled, I looked at my hands that were still stretched above me. My arms were corded with muscles I was sure I hadn't had when I was sedated. Vincent must have felt my panic because he cut me off. "You made it through the augmentations. If you move slowly and carefully you'll be alright but your body has changed a lot."_

"_What happened?" I asked, carefully maneuvering my body to sit up. My reflexes and actions were a million times faster than they had been, meaning I had to carefully plan out every move I made._

"_Like I said, you went through the augmentations. There wasn't much that I could do to help but when the changes started reaching dangerous levels I slowed your breathing and heart-rate. They thought they lost you so the augmentations ceased and you were sealed in a coffin. Your augmentations were cut off at the ninety-seven percent mark so your body almost made it through the whole procedure."_

"_The others?" I questioned, having shockingly made it to my feet. When there was no answer forthcoming I looked around the room I'd been left in. My coffin wasn't the only one. A quick sweep revealed there to be twenty-nine other canisters. Twenty-nine SPARTANS that truly had died during the augmentations. Would ONI consider that an acceptable number? A little less than half of their trainees, dead. What was I saying? Of course it was an acceptable number. Just as acceptable as kidnapping seventy-five children and turning them into weapons that pretended to be soldiers._

"_You need to get out of here," Vincent said, understanding my hesitation. "In a little over fourteen hours they will be collecting the fallen and taking them to the carrier _Atlas _for burial at space."_

"_They don't even have the decency to bury us on a planet," I noted, voice as lifeless as the room. "Can't leave any proof that there were failures after all." Vincent had no reply as I made my way to the lid of my coffin and put it back where it belonged. Hopefully each canister would be fully sealed without checking first. "Vincent, what about the escape attempts?"_

"_None succeeded," he answered. "ONI was expecting escape attempts so they used a more powerful sedative that they were sure the children would not be capable of fighting. The others did make attempts but the drug dropped them quickly. Zach made it the farthest, actually reaching the hangar bay before succumbing to the drugs. You, however, made the biggest impact as you were still capable of fighting. They had to give you three times the amount of sedative as the others." I thought I should be proud of that but I couldn't muster the needed emotion. Not while I was surrounded by my fallen brothers and sisters. "Open that crate over there. It has Helljumper uniforms; you can get off the facility by posing as one of them."_

"_They store the bodies of the SPARTANS they killed in a storage room?" I queried, even as I made my way to the mentioned crate. It was strange walking as I was suddenly several inches taller than the last time I'd been awake. My legs were also muscled, just like my arms. It was going to be a pain in the ass, finding clothes that actually fit._

"_It was the only room big enough," the AI sighed. I could actually feel him tiring. He must have used a lot of energy to first make it look like I'd died and then again to keep my alive. "Most of the supplies were moved out as soon as the decision was made to keep the coffins here. This one was left." He became pensive as I finally found a pair of pants that fit. Now for a shirt. "Actually, it was that commander that restrained you in the hall that insisted the crate stay. He was nearly inconsolable when you were declared dead. I could hear him screaming from the hall that he'd told you that everyone would be alright. I think- I think he was hoping that you had survived somehow. He wanted to give you an escape." Yeah, he would do that. The commander didn't bother hiding the fact that he liked me anymore. A big change from being the little brat that he had to answer to._

_Finally, I managed to scrape together a complete uniform that actually fit, including a helmet. Moving was still awkward as I had to make sure to think through every move. My ears had also started ringing and I'm sure that at one point my eyes were bleeding. But eventually I was all put together and managed to leave the room. I was in a section of the facility that I'd never been to before but Vincent was able to guide me to the hangar bay. Somehow I managed to get there without anyone becoming suspicious of me although how I did it I'll never know. After all, I tripped over my own feet more times then I could count._

_I hadn't been in the bay for longer than a minute when the commander came striding through the doors. His eyes were snapping and there were still some tear tracks on his cheeks. "Helljumpers, board up!" he roared, making every Helljumper jump and scramble to obey. I wasn't able to move as quickly, afraid that I would hurt myself or others, so I was the last to reach the dropship. The commander scowled at me, clearly furious at my slow pace. The only empty seat was directly across from his so that's where I settled, relieved to finally have an excuse to be still. A minute later we were in space, leaving the facility behind us and returning to Reach. The dropship was oddly quiet, each person lost in their own thoughts. Most of the Helljumpers hadn't realized what was going to happen to the children they'd escorted. It was a shock to realize how many faces they'd seen going up were now gone forever._

_After landing, the commander nearly screamed as I moved slowly to disembark. "What is your problem?!" he yelled into the face of my helmet. "Did you pull a muscle or stub your toe?"_

"_Didn't pull a muscle but I grew quite a few," I answered. My physical voice was different than I was used to, deeper like an adult would be. However, it was similar enough to pull the commander up short. He stared at me, eyes wide in disbelief._

"_Sir?" he whispered, hoping desperately that it was me. The airstrip we were on was abandoned so I took the risk and removed my helmet. As soon as he saw me the tears returned, this time of joy. "Sir!" He wrapped me in a hug that I was quick to return. However, I stumbled back quickly when I squeezed to hard and he gave a cry of pain. We stared at each other for a moment, realizing just how much had been changed in me. I couldn't even give a hug without causing pain to my friend. Luckily, at that moment a warthog drove by and distracted us from such thoughts. The commander helped me reach his own warthog and drove away._

_I ended up staying with the commander; whose name I finally learned was Eric Faldon. The first month or so were very touch and go as I had to learn how to control my body again. It wasn't uncommon for me to trip over my own feet or punch through a wall on accident. After the first week I quit counting all the glasses I shattered as I kept forgetting my strength. Then there was the constant struggle of finding clothes that would fit. Eric finally caved and had one of his friends in supply come by and measure me for uniforms after swearing him to secrecy. However, after the first month we ran into the biggest problem. I'd regained almost total control of my body so I became very, very bored. After eight years of being soldier trained I couldn't stand the thought of sitting around all day with nothing to do. Sure, I trained with Eric but it was obviously not enough._

_That was when I remembered Cadmon talking about you, Lasky, and Corbulo. I talked it over with Eric and he agreed to send me. General Black was an old friend of Eric's so when Eric told him about me the General happily accepted my enrollment. Of course, Black didn't know the whole story. He was not aware of my SPARTAN background or the augmentations. Eric had just told him that I was his adopted daughter, which was true enough. The name Kaine Kobayashi was chosen, Black thinking that it was to protect me from Eric's enemies as he'd amassed quite a few as a Helljumper. Eric also forged documentation of my adoption, making me legally his daughter. Then I went away to Corbulo with Eric's promise that I would be a Helljumper upon my graduation._

* * *

"And that, as they say, is that," Kaine finished, tiredly leaning against the wall. "I attended Corbulo for the year until now." Lasky could only shake his head in awe. She said it so matter-of-factly; did she not realize how fantastic her story was?

"What will you do now?" Zach asked, finally calm again. Lasky had been watching him during the portion of the story that described the events of the augmentations and had seen the anger drain out of him. It wasn't that hard to see that his anger came from the idea that Kaine had meant to leave without their knowing she was alive. Now he could see that the idea hadn't been hers, that she had actually fought for the other SPARTANS.

"I'm following my plan," she answered, meeting his gaze firmly. "With Corbulo destroyed I either have the option of finding another school to graduate from or I can return to Eric and become a full time Helljumper." She could see the argument on his tongue and cut him off. "I'm not going back to the SPARTANS, Zach. I will not become ONI's puppet again. With these creatures popping up I have no doubt that ONI is going to get very particular about where the SPARTANS are sent and how they are used. I can't go back to that." He observed her for a few moments longer before nodding in defeat.

Then she turned to Lasky. "What about you Lasky?" He blinked at her in confusion. "What are you going to do now? Not only do you need to make a decision about your schooling, you also need to decide what to do with all the information I've given you. You now know that, not only am I alive but I also have Vincent with me. Will you tell ONI?"

"Don't insult me like that," Lasky snapped back, eyes furious. "Like hell am I telling ONI anything after what you've told me. If you want, I'll help you destroy ONI!" That drew a tired smile from Kaine. I actually did have a question for you. When I sent the distress beacon on Corbulo I thought that the display flickered, like an AI was hacking in. Was that Vincent?"

"Yes," Kaine sighed, laying her head on Zach's nearby shoulder. "I was across the campus, playing cat-and-mouse with the monsters with bird heads. Vincent had hacked into Corbulo's system to try and locate survivors. You were right, by the way. The beacon was down. Vincent took your message and re-broadcast it to the UNSC troops we knew were coming in to help. Afterwards, Vincent kept an eye on you and alerted me when Master Chief made an appearance so I could rendezvous with you and get off the planet." She snorted. "Running into Zach proved to be the only hiccup in the whole plan. Chief, Kelly, and Fred wouldn't be able to recognize me with all the changes that came from the augmentations." She poked her pillow, making him laugh. "Zach and Lu would recognize me anywhere."

"True," Zach chuckled. "Now I have my own question." She turned her face up to look at him. "What happened to your eyes? Last I saw them, they were bright green."

"Augmentations," Kaine answered with a laugh before frowning slightly. "Didn't anyone else suffer a change like that? A new eye or hair color, something?"

"Mark did," Zach replied, eyes dimming. "His changed because he went blind." Startled, Kaine pulled back. "You're right, thirty SPARTANS died from augmentations, excuse me, twenty-nine, but another dozen suffered some sort of injury that resulted in their with-drawl from the program. Mark went blind, Fhajad's nervous system went haywire so he shakes all the time, Kirk and Rene underwent some sort of mutation and don't even look human any more." He shook his head sadly. "There were only thirty-three of us that made it out in one piece."

Kaine knew there was something he wasn't telling her. Frowning, she thought over everything she knew and had just learned. The frown deepened as something came in to focus. "Zach, Kelly was one of the SPARTANS to get us off the planet. I know that John is Master Chief, I could hear it. But the other SPARTAN was Fred. Where's Sam?"

"Sam was killed," Zach answered, a look of pain on his face. "He, Kelly, and John infiltrated a Covenant ship a few months ago. They managed to destroy the ship but Sam never made it off. Kelly and John had to leave him." Well, that actually answered quite a few questions, including how Chief could actually sympathize with Lasky when Chyler died. Numbly, Kaine settled against the wall again, her eyes on the floor and into space. Lasky also remained silent, allowing his friend to grieve.

Finally, she got to her feet. "It's time for me to go," she said. "Vincent's says they're starting to gather all the civilians that are going back to Reach." She looked down at Zach one last time, her eyes conflicted. "I know you're duty bound to report this whole event to Master Chief. Still, I ask that you not." Before he could respond, she bowed slightly in his direction. "Regardless, I'm sure I will see you on the battlefield eventually. I wish you the best of luck, and I'm glad I got to talk to you again. It's been to long since I actually spoke to my friends." Throwing him a last smile, she turned and ran down the hall, allowing Lasky to see just how fast the augmentations had made her. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the raven-haired SPARTAN that was sitting across from him. The younger man's face was furrowed in thought.

"What are you going to do about Kaine?" Lasky asked, dreading the answer. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stop the SPARTAN if he chose to report. But then green eyes met his before sliding away as Zach stood up and started walking calmly in the other direction.

"Who's Kaine?" was the only answer Lasky would ever receive. Smiling at the unspoken meaning, Lasky nodded in understanding before making his own way back to the rest of the ship. He still had to report to the medical bay for treatment, contact his mother and let her know of his survival, and figure out where he'd go next in his life. No one needed to know that a few days later he discreetly checked the logs and smiled when he saw that Kaine Kobayashi had safely made it back to her adopted father, Eric Faldon, on Reach. He was sure he'd meet her again someday, on a battlefield like she had said. The thought of her dieing before then never even occurred to him. After all, she was more than a survivor. She was a SPARTAN.

* * *

_Babble time: Forgot to do this last chapter. This chapter is based off of the beginning of the book _The Fall of Reach _and the first chapter was based off of the movie _Forward Unto Dawn_. Both chapters quoted heavily from their sources; as will be the case for all chapters that are not marked as intermissions._


	3. Cal

**Cal**

Sighing, Kaine waved another private away. She knew that it was common Helljumper policy to welcome all new Helljumper officers by sending every single private that had a request or complaint or concern to that new officer so they could deal with them. Eric had warned her that she wasn't going to be an exception since she'd insisted that she be treated no different from any other Helljumper. Now she was starting to wish she'd taken him up on his offer for special privileges. Namely, only having to deal with the concerns of the Helljumpers under her command. Nothing she could do about it now but if she ran into one more private she was gonna be late to formation.

"Lieutenant Faldon!" Groaning, Kaine turned to face whomever had called her. Another private was heading her way but before he could reach her, a hand fell on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid Lieutenant Faldon is busy," a deep voice behind her said, making her smile inwardly. Eric Faldon saves the day! "Take your concern to your commanding officer, private."

"Yes sir!" the private answered, eyes wide in surprise and a little fear. Seems he wasn't used to talking to someone as highly ranked as Eric was. The private saluted sharply before nearly running away down the hall. Sighing but allowing her smile to show, Kaine turned to look into her adopted father's amused eyes.

"I told you," was all he said before motioning for her to follow him. With the ease that came from years of practice, she fell into step beside him. "Although I must say, I'm impressed. I thought you'd be on a killing spree by now. After all, your kind are not known for their restraint when it comes to pointless delays."

"I've only been a Lieutenant for three days," Kaine replied, rolling her eyes at the mention of 'her kind'. "Surely you have greater faith in my abilities then to assume I would go on a rampage after only three days of this behavior." The answering chuckle she received tempted her to stick out her tongue at the man. It was still a mystery to her how he managed to draw the child out of her so effortlessly. "I'd make it at least a week. After that, all bets are off."

"I'll be sure to spread the word," Eric teased before reaching the final set of stairs before the formation grounds. Even after the last six years it was still fascinating to watch the change that came over the man when faced with his duty. Kaine had been lucky enough to see him as a Helljumper before she got to know him as a regular man. It prevented her from making assumptions that weren't true. Eric Faldon was the best father she could have asked for, with her history and all, but Commander Faldon was the real him and she respected that. Her own situation wasn't much different after all.

Pausing so that the Commander could walk before her, Kaine ascended the steps behind him. Despite being a Lieutenant for three days this was her first time to be on the formation grounds as an officer. She had to remind herself to not stand with the rest of the soldiers that were already waiting in neat formations. Instead she made her way to stand behind Platoon Seven, the platoon that had been assigned to her. She shared command of the platoon with a First Lieutenant who was already present, standing at-ease behind their men. The two shared a nod before Kaine fell into position beside him, easily assuming an at-ease stance. Her sharp gaze followed the Commander for a while as he spoke to some of the higher ranked officers. Hopefully it wasn't another discussion about her.

Knowing that the time for inspection was getting close, Kaine turned her gaze towards her platoon. Their lines were straight and evenly spaced, just as they should be. The precision wasn't as perfect as Kaine was used to but she doubted anyone outside the Spartans would ever be that perfect or except anyone to reach that level of perfection. Then a discrepancy caught her eye and she frowned. The platoon was a man short. There was a gap in fourth squad, their line ending abruptly while the others continued. Kaine had been informed that one Helljumper from that squad had died in a mission but the gap was large enough for two people.

"Why are we short a man?" she asked, leaning slightly towards the other Lieutenant. He started in surprise, giving her a look that clearly stated he didn't know what she was talking about, before looking at the platoon himself and noticing the gap. His brows furrowed together in a frown, obviously confused about what he was seeing. Kaine just sighed, knowing there would be no answer from him. She'd have to remember to tell Eric about the moment though. He needed to know when officers started to slack off so he could nip the problem in the bud.

The actual formation had not really begun yet, the officers using the time to talk amongst themselves, so Kaine left her post and approached fourth squad's leader. "Master Sergeant," she said, watching him to start in surprise before turning to face her. "You're a man short."

"Yes sir," he answered, his eyes nervously glancing towards the gap. Kaine arched an eyebrow, silently telling him to elaborate. "It's O'Brien, sir. No one's seen him all day." That got a frown out of the female. She'd been reading the files of the men now under her command but hadn't reached O'Brien's yet. Still, the man was a Helljumper which meant missing formations couldn't be something he did regularly.

Flicking her gaze towards the senior officers, Kaine weighed her options. She knew what Helljumper policy would have her do. However, she didn't really want to follow policy right then.

At that moment, the Commander met her gaze. They stared at each other for a instant before Kaine threw him an apologetic smile. Then, to everyone's shock, she turned and walked off the formation grounds and back into the main body of the ship.

To her luck, the first person she met in the halls happened to know O'Brien. He confirmed that he hadn't seen the Helljumper that day but was able to tell her a few locations on the ship that the man would retreat to when he wanted to be alone. However, it wasn't until the last location she looked, a small space in the belly of the ship that had a glass wall that revealed the vastness of space, that she was able to find him.

"O'Brien," she said sharply, causing him to jump in surprise. "Any particular reason you aren't in formation right now?" The redhead looked down at his watch, startled, only to shoot to his feet with a yell as he realized the time. Of course, he'd forgotten how small the space he occupied was and was back on the ground in a second, nursing his bruised scalp while Kaine observed the new dent in the pipe above his head. "I wouldn't suggest you get up that fast again, soldier."

"Yes sir," he ground out, still struggling to get to his feet so he could salute. "I'm sorry sir, I didn't think I'd been here that long." Kaine just waved his words away, crawling up the rest of the distance so she could settle into the space with him. Between the two of them there was no extra room, forcing O'Brien to cease his struggles or run the risk of stepping on a superior officer. Once he'd settled down again she gave him her arched brow look, inviting him to explain why he was in the location that he was. Unlike the Master Sergeant, he didn't take the silent order.

"I know I'm new to the 105th," Kaine finally said, sarcasm dripping from her words. "But I've been a Helljumper for six years. I know full well that formations are not optional. Therefore, if you have a reason for being in this little hiding hole instead of standing with your squad, I suggest you tell me what it is. Otherwise I will have no choice but to write you up for disciplinary action." O'Brien blinked at her a couple times, clearly shocked that he hadn't already been written up. Kaine knew she should have done it by now but Eric had always spoken highly of the 105th Helljumpers. She was having a difficult time believing that O'Brien's actions had been rebellious, or even deliberate.

"I just got lost in thought, sir," O'Brien finally answered, hesitantly as though he was unsure if he could trust her or not. "You might have heard that the last mission I was on went pretty sour. This was the first time I had to be by myself and think about what happened. I never meant to be here as long as I have." Kaine nodded, understanding the feeling. She'd gone through it herself after Corbulo. However, she'd also learned that it took more than time to sit and think about the event by yourself for the wounds to heal.

"Tell me about it," she said, leaning back to get more comfortable. At O'Brien's look of shock she simply shrugged. "We're both to late for formation to go now. Might as well use the time constructively. So, tell me about this mission." The look she received was still hesitant but he'd heard the order hidden in her words and started telling her the story.

* * *

_The day started out pretty normal, you know? One of those days when you get up and think that the day is gonna be just like any other day. You stub your toe as you're getting dressed, yell at your bunk mate for being a slob, threaten to shoot a few cooks because there's no more coffee in the mess hall. All perfectly normal. I mean, sure, I was a little irritable that morning. Alright, I was very irritable. Give me a break, I'd just been told that I was going on a sniper mission and that there would be a backup. My ego instantly took offense._

_We were here, on _Destroyer DD-993_. It was Dutch, Checkmen, Cortez, and me. Our commander had told us we were to execute a vital mission before mentioning that there was to be a backup sniper. Like I said, my ego was insulted, but the commander left before I could make my complaints known. We were told to grab some chow before our official briefing so we all trooped down to the chow hall. The others actually did get some food. So did I but I was to angry to actually eat. Dutch, Check, and I grabbed our normal table while Cortez flirted with one of the cooks like he always does. We were quiet for a while but then, I just had to start ranting._

"_I don't get it," I growled. "How the hell did everybody forget that I'm the best shot this side of Eridanus? Getting assigned a backup is a bunch of BS!" Check knew enough about my moods to keep quiet, focusing on his food instead. Dutch, however, apparently didn't pick up on my sarcasm._

"_Contingency," he said, looking at me like he doubted I knew what the word meant. "It's an important mission. If the first sniper misses the target, they take the shot." Cortez had reached the table during Dutch's speech, doing his strange thanks-for-the-food prayer clap thing he does. It was just another annoyance to add to my list of annoying things._

"_I don't miss, I never miss! This sucks and you know it!" Huffing, I turned away from the group. "I'm nobody's babysitter. Especially not some farm-boy moose hunter!" Logically, I knew the other shooter had to be good. Only the best shooters became snipers and only the best snipers would be chosen for a mission like this. I just didn't feel like being logical right at that moment. And then Cortez just had to speak up, one of his damn smirks on his face._

"_I hate to be the one to break the bad news," he told me, gleefully I might add, "but you weren't selected to be the primary shooter on this mission. So it seems they want your "farm-boy" to do it? I guess that makes you the backup. Sorry, O'Brien." Yeah, right, like he was actually sorry. I still reacted the way he wanted though, damn him._

"I'm _the backup?!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. That only made his smirk grow as Cortez pointed his spoon at me, obviously not finished with his attack on my ego._

"_And the shooter-is a Spartan."_

_We all reacted to that, Dutch and Check leaning forward with exclamations of surprise while I just stood there like an idiot, my mouth hanging open. For a moment I was sure I had heard the man wrong but, no, I hadn't. I was a Spartan's backup. Of course, Cortez wasn't done yet. "And that means this mission just got escalated." I wanted to counter with some snappy comment but my mind was to frozen by his previous words and I was further dumbfounded when the man turned back to his food and calmly continued to eat. Couldn't he see that my entire world and ego were self-imploding?!_

_We didn't stay in the chow hall much beyond that point. The other three had cleared their trays and I was to upset to eat. We made a quick stop at our quarters to armor up and get our gear but then we were on our way to the briefing. The second we stepped through those doors we could see it. The Spartan. It was standing right next to our commander, towering over him like an armored mountain. I wanted to go off on it's ass right then but one look from Cortez had me falling into formation with the others. Our commander observed us all for a second before nodding._

"_This is Spartan Cal-141, who will be the ranking officer on this mission," he introduced, gesturing slightly to the silent robot like we wouldn't know who he was talking about if he hadn't clarified. "I realize that is highly unusual, and you have strong feelings about Spartans. You will keep those feelings out of the mission and follow the plan." I wanted to sneer, I really did, but somehow I restrained myself and kept my face carefully blank. The commander gave us one more glare before turning to the screen behind him, ready to lay out the details of the mission. "Satellite recon shows radar and magnetic signatures on Heian in the Ark Star Cluster. These signatures indicate a complex of buildings. It's a logistical base. The Prophet you are targeting is in control of the entire sector. Our mission is simple. We want this Prophet dead. We take out the Prophet, we will take out the Covenant chain of command." The commander turned back to us, wanting us to focus on him once more as the screen defaulted to it's normal image. "If we achieve the goal of this mission, we will be able to buy ourselves months of tactical advantage. And we will do it all with minimal risk to the UNSC." I was just starting to get into the groove of what he was saying when he scoffed. "Other than to this group, of course." I wanted to sneer back at him, wanted to ask why he had to build us up just to shoot us down again like he had, but my training held firm and I didn't react. At least, I don't think I did. I wasn't called on it and the commander continued, "Cortez! Fill them in the details."_

_Nodding, Cortez moved forward to stand before the display screen, which flickered to life again. "Alright, you'll be flying into the atmosphere with a Leonid-class meteor shower. Meteor showers of this nature are a regular occurrence on this planet, so that means entry and landing should go unnoticed. Calculations show reaching the target will take a fourteen-hour fast march from your entry point. Once you reach the target, you will take out the Prophet as soon as he steps off that ship. Then you are to gather all data relating to the unidentified alien ruins." That final order finally got a reaction from the three of us as we hadn't heard anything about that in our pre-briefing meetings. Of course, as the most vocal of the group, I was the one to speak up._

"_What do you mean, they're not identified?" I asked. Hey, stop giving me that look! It didn't sound so stupid when the words were in my head. Anyway, I still got my answer._

"_The architecture is not Covenant design and it sure as hell wasn't built by humans," Cortez answered briskly. "They pre-date both sides. This site is of the utmost importance. We photograph everything." The commander checked his watch, wanting to keep us on schedule. We must have been cutting it close because he cut in._

"_That'll be all, Master Sergeant. You can rejoin your men. You will be dropping in precisely five minutes. With this mission, there is no room for delay or error. Good luck, and Godspeed." The squad saluted sharply, including the Spartan, before we all raced to our pods. We had no doubt that the commander would open the launch doors whether we were in our pods or not. He always was a stickler for timing and precision. And sure enough, exactly five minutes later the launch doors were open and we flew into open space._

_The journey through the asteroid belt was difficult. It was very different from our normal jumps and much more treacherous. I lost count of how many times I got to close to an asteroid or how many times I had to frantically dodge a speeding lump of rock was determined to end my mission right there. By comparison, our entry into the atmosphere was as smooth as butter. Of course, after all that, my landing had to suck, horribly. I glanced off the side of a rock formation and fell right into a swamp. The impact was so powerful it jarred all my systems, leaving me dead and dark in the water-literally. I tried to blow my hatch but the thing was jammed, not responding to my control pad. That was when I noticed how hard it was getting to breathe. Some part of my brain recognized that my air tank must have been ruptured but the majority of my mind began to panic. That panic only grew as I noticed water seeping in around my feet. You know, fighting Covenant and stuff, sometimes I would sit around and wonder how I was going to die. Somehow, drowning in a swamp while trapped in my pod hadn't been one of the ways I'd thought of._

_Just as I was giving in to despair, my pod shifted. Not much, just enough for me to notice. Then it jostled a little, making me stumble, even in the enclosed space. And then - BAM! - I go flying. I nearly died again on impact as my pod hit the ground and rolled. Did end up whacking my head pretty hard though. A minute or two later, my hatch was torn off, allowing me to fall out, gasping for breath. Now, you know me; I can't express gratitude to save me life. So, of course, I start yelling right away._

"_Are you guys nuts?! Why you throwin' me around like that?" Of course, that's when I sense someone standing behind me so I turn around and who do I see? The Spartan. It didn't say anything, just looked down at me, before calmly walking away. Before I could puzzle through its behavior, Dutch came up and squatted beside me._

"_We lost Checkmen in the atmosphere," he told me, shocking me to the core. Check had been one of the best Helljumpers when it came to piloting these pods. I couldn't believe we'd lost him. "And we almost lost you, too." That jogged my memory, how seconds ago I'd been sure I was gonna die. Cortez later told me that the Spartan had saved me single-handedly, throwing my pod out of the swamp like it did. I should have been thankful, I knew it, but instead my anger towards the Spartan grew. Not only did it take my rightful place as main gunner on this mission, it had the gall to save my life. Oh yeah, I was pissed._

_Dawn was just starting to touch the mountains as we all gathered to talk strategy. The Spartan was standing guard, gazing out into the open space near our hideout. I remember thinking it strange that the Spartan was our ranking officer, yet it didn't act like it would contribute to our planning. Maybe it trusted us. Or maybe it just didn't give a shit, confidant in its ability to complete the mission even if we screwed up. I'm leaning towards the latter._

_Anyway, Cortez brought out the map, letting me and Dutch see the terrain for the first time. "Their logistics and refueling base is here," he said, pointing to a spot on the map. How he knew that was a mystery since it wasn't marked on the map itself. "We're here. The prophet will be coming in at exactly 0800. Everything depends on us getting a clear shot from this location and we've got to hit him as soon as he's exiting that ship." He traced a line from where the Prophet would be to our target location with his finger. "It's two miles from the target and should give us the elevation for the shot. It's pretty far, but it will give us enough cover to make our extraction."_

"_Assuming that the Spartan can make the shot, that is," I quipped, looking over at the robot in question. It didn't even twitch. I swear, it was ignoring me on purpose. Although, I probably deserved it._

"_And if we don't make it to the target in time?" Dutch asked. He was always the one to bring up the worst case scenarios. Luckily, Cortez was used to it and had an answer ready._

"_There won't be any second chances." The Spartan finally looked at us, still silent. I stared at it for a little bit longer before mentally shrugging my shoulders and turning away._

"_It's a long-ass march," I, almost, whined. I could hear the smirk in Dutch's voice as he rested his weapon on his shoulder._

"_Then we better get marching."_

_And march we did. We marched through hip-high grass in the forest clearings. Well, hip-high to us. To the Spartan the grass was barely above it's knees. Then we climbed over one of the stone mountains. We were struggling. The Spartan moved like it was using hardly any energy. And then we marched through more forests. I was getting really, really bored. Of course, just when I was about to start complaining, things changed._

_The Spartan had always been our Point, through the whole march. It always kept a steady pace, remaining a constant distance before us. So, when it suddenly gave us the signal to halt then rushed ahead, we were all caught slightly off-guard. Still, we crouched to the ground, letting the foliage conceal us as the Spartan moved ahead a short ways to one of the larger trees. It pulled out some sort of device, holding it to it's mask as it surveyed something we couldn't see._

_I wasn't sure what the device was, but after all those hours of marching I was bored enough that I didn't bother to hold my tongue. "Wanna take the lens cap off?" I drawled, thinking the device was a standard recording tool._

"_Knock it off, O'Brien," Cortez ordered, his voice sharp. I wasn't the only one frustrated with the situation but Cortez knew better than to take out that frustration on the Spartan. He moved forward, wanting to know what the Spartan was seeing, and we followed him. The sight that awaited us had us all pulling up short._

_It was the alien structures the commander had told us about. At least, it was supposed to be. However, the place reminded me sharply of Oriental designs. The shapes of the buildings, the lanterns, the statues. They all resembled human designs that I knew pretty well. There was just enough variation, just enough changes, to prove that the buildings couldn't have been built by humans. Hell, their size alone proved that humans hadn't made the city. I was positive that even the Spartan would be dwarfed by the smallest of buildings._

_As the three of us gaped at the sight, the Spartan continued its recording. Every now and then I could hear a sound from the device it was using, reminding me of a camera. Then the Spartan apparently saw something that upset it as it pulled the device away from its mask and took off down the path again, leaving us to scramble after it. Eventually it paused and we could see what had set it off. A group of Grunts were in the area, apparently overseeing some sort of mining operation. There were four of them, moving about the ruins. The Spartan signaled that we were to take them out, quietly if possible. Cortez acknowledged and we split up._

_I was sent after the farthest Grunt. It was patrolling a conveyer built that dropped its contents into the river. As I was moving into firing position, I stepped on a branch. Quit giving me that look, I know it was a rookie mistake! I don't know why I hadn't been paying attention, it just happened! The point is, I stepped on the branch and the Grunt heard me. It stared at me, eyes wide in shock, as I lifted my weapon and fired. For a second, as I watched the Grunt fall down dead, I wondered why my weapon had made such a loud noise. My ears were ringing from the roar. Then I turned around to see a Brute Chieftain behind me, his hammer stopped inches from my body. Stopped by the Spartan. It just stood there, holding on to that hammer and preventing it from touching me. I couldn't believe my eyes._

_Then the Brute roared again and swung the hammer to the side, throwing the Spartan away and sending me flying towards the river. I lost my weapon right away, unable to keep a hold on it. Really, at that moment I didn't care. I was tumbling down the decline, head over heels, before suddenly pitching off the edge. It was sheer dumb luck that I managed to grab a root or I would have plunged to my death. I did watch my rifle go over the edge, my sniper rifle barely hanging on to my arm as I hung there, right next to the waterfall. Just as I was trying to figure out how to pull myself up, the trees beside me exploded out and I saw the most amazing sight in the world._

_Yeah, it was the Spartan. Apparently it had tried to kick the Brute in the chest. The Brute got the shaft of his hammer up in time to block the kick but the force behind the blow was still enough to send them both into the river. In a feat of acrobatics I haven't seen outside of a circus, the Spartan let the Brute take the full brunt of the landing, balancing on the hammer shaft until impact when it sprung away, rolling in the water to absorb its own impact._

_Of course, that's the point when I lost my grip on the root and fell the rest of the way to the water. The edge of the river as it turned into the waterfall was shallow enough that I actually stumbled back along it, unable to catch my balance as I was pushed to the edge. At the very end I started to tumble and used that momentum to grab a slight protrusion in the river bed. The force of the water ripped my sniper rifle away, but I managed to hold on._

_I'm not sure how long I hung on. It felt like hours but I doubt it was even a minute. At one point something very large hurtled past me and I remember hoping that it was the Brute. It would totally serve him right. But the thought disappeared quickly as I could feel myself slipping. I tried to force my other arm up to grab the edge but the force of the water prevented it. I felt the moment I lost my grip on the stone but it wasn't even a full second later that something else grabbed my hand and pulled me up and out of the water. The shock of the sudden loss of water pressure threw me for a loop so I wasn't entirely aware of what was happening around me for a few seconds. When I finally did focus I realized that it was the Spartan that had saved me and that it was carrying me like I was a child or something. Yeah, you know what happens next, right? I blew up at it._

"_I'm not crippled, put me down!" I yelled, suddenly flailing around. The Spartan obeyed but I swear it was laughing at me. Then it just-walked off. Like nothing had happened. Like it hadn't saved my life twice, three times if you count the fact that it stopped the Brute from crushing me with the hammer. I know I'm not very good at expressing my gratitude but the Spartan kept acting like it didn't expect my thanks. The way it acted, one would think that it didn't believe it had done anything worth thanking it for. That attitude made me feel guilty which then made me angry because I was feeling guilty about how I was treating a Spartan. It was so strange for me and I wasn't sure how to react so I just reacted in anger. I wonder if it ever did bother the Spartan._

_Anyway, like I said, the Spartan put me down and walked off. Dutch and Cortez were there and watched it leave before Dutch trotted over to me, just as surprised by the Spartan as I was but also irritated by my behavior. "You bitch any louder and this place will be crawling with Covenant," he rebuked, snapping me out of the gape fest I was directing towards the most annoying Spartan in the universe._

"_Shut your mouth!" I snarled. "He just got lucky." Of course, it wasn't until later that I realized that Dutch hadn't said anything about the Spartan. I was just so focused on the giant that it was always the first thing on my mind. You can see where this is going, can't you. Yeah, the realization just made me angrier. Honestly, it's a wonder I didn't try to shoot the Spartan myself._

_We wandered around the ruins for a while, allowing the Spartan to record anything it thought needed to be recorded. As I'd thought, the sheer size of these buildings and relics made the Spartan look like an insect. I didn't want to think about how small I looked when compared to the things. Cortez was keeping pace with the Spartan, ready to help if he was ever needed, although he never was. I preferred to keep my distance, puzzling over my feelings for the Spartan. I was just talking myself into thanking the thing for saving my life when Dutch elbowed me roughly, making me stumble._

"_That's twice," he told me, smirking the whole time. "Twice he had to save your dumb ass already. You could at least say thank you." Never mind the fact that I'd been talking myself into doing just that, as soon as Dutch mentioned it my ego reared its ugly head and I knew that I never would thank it. No, I'd make it my job for the rest of the mission to belittle the Spartan as much as I could. I hadn't forgotten that the Spartan was still the main gunner on this mission so I knew I could continue to doubt its ability. Even if it never reacted, I knew it could hear me. Childish thinking, I admit, but I didn't care just then._

_Once the Spartan was done at the ruins, we continued our march. We marched for the rest of the day and through the night. The trip should have taken us only fourteen hours but the fight with the Brute and the amount of ruins had slowed us down a lot. So it turned out that we were still climbing to our target location as the sky began to lighten with false-dawn light. Luckily, the path we were taking to the target was an actual stairway. Unluckily, each step was about four feet tall. We weren't able to walk up them, we were hauling ourselves up and over them. Even the Spartan was having issues at certain points, although most stairs were only up to it's hips or just a little below them._

_At the top of the stairs was a large temple looking building that was actually carved into the mountainside. We weren't sure if it was occupied by Covenant forces so we entered as stealthily as we could, the Spartan taking point again. The hall we ran through was littered with rubble and debris, making running an interesting experience, but eventually we made it through. We exited into a large room, one side being open air. That was our target location; it gave us the perfect elevation and view to make the shot. Once we were sure the area was secure, the four of us gathered at the edge, taking in the view before turning back to the seriousness of the mission._

"_The shuttle will be touching down in two minutes," Cortez announced, making me heave a silent breath of relief. For a while I'd been sure that we wouldn't make it in time._

_The Spartan started setting up its sniper rifle, preparing for the shot. Still feeling uncharitable, I couldn't stop myself from making a snide remark. "After all this, he better be everything they said he was," I grumbled, throwing the Spartan my best glare. It ignored me but by that point I was sort of expecting that response. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be backup and needed to know how the scene looked so I pulled out my binocular set. It didn't let me focus as much as the rifle's scope would but I could at least get a feel for the situation down there. I watched the shuttle come in, easing down to land on the pad. The Spartan was ready, I could tell, and I found myself hoping it would make the shot. You know the feeling, right? You don't like the other person but you realize how important that moment is and you don't want them to screw up? That's how it was just then._

_I was so focused on the Prophet's shuttle, I didn't pay any attention to what was happening around me. I should have heard the thing, I really should have. It wasn't making any effort to be quiet. But I didn't, and that moment will haunt me to my grave._

_I was only vaguely aware of the Spartan suddenly spinning towards me. I felt the roar, though I can't remember hearing it. Then the Spartan was there again, shoving me out of the way. The hammer passed right before my face, cutting the air, before striking the Spartan across the head and shoulder. The impact was so great that the Spartan actually bounced off the hard floor before falling back against the remains of the stone wall, its armor sparking._

_You know, the human mind is a strange thing. Sometimes a surprise like the Brute would be enough to throw people into shock and they wouldn't be able to react. Other times, the event sharpens the human senses and we react faster than we normally would. The latter occurred this time. As the Brute took a step towards the Spartan Cortez yelled, "Take him out!" and we all tackled the thing. We managed to wrestle him to the ground where Dutch crawled on top of him, pointed his rifle at the thing's ruined eye, and emptied the clip. He was deader than dead. Then, almost as an afterthought, we remembered the Spartan. Cortez raced over, trying to figure out where the Spartan was injured. It's helmet was still sparking so he ripped it off and flung it away-and froze._

_It was a girl. Cal-141 was a female Spartan. Her hair was long and pale, although it was already turning pink from the blood that was coming from her head wound. And her eyes, they were pale too. I'd never seen eyes like that. It was-so shocking, so unexpected, I didn't know what to do. None of us did. We just stood there, frozen like statues. Then she swung her head up, her eyes moving like she was trying to find something. Finally, they settled on me._

"_Take the shot," she said, her voice nearly drowning in pain. I think she knew I was too shocked though because right on the heels of that she yelled, "O'Brien, now! You're the only one who can do it." Those words snapped me out of my daze and reminded me that we still had a mission._

_I rushed back to the rifle, terrified that I was already to late. But when I looked through the scope, the Prophet was still in the open. All I had to do was take my sights and squeeze the trigger. And that was it. It was over._

_We should have left at that point. Our extraction point was right nearby and the Pelican would be coming for us any second. We knew that but-I think we also knew that Cal wasn't gonna make it. I'm not sure how we knew, since none of us would admit it, but we did. We pulled her into the shadow of one of the fallen stones to provide her with some shelter. Dutch was a little behind her, letting her rest her head on his leg. Cortez was kneeling on her left side, trying to keep her talking. Me? I just stood there, apart from them, watching._

_After a couple minutes, Cal pulled a chip out of her armor and handed it to Cortez. "It's the data. On the ruins," she explained, her hand shaking as she tried to keep it aloft. She grabbed on to Cortez's hand and lifted it up too, pressing the chip into his hand and covering it with hers. "Tell them-to get it to Halsey. She'll know."_

"_No, you give it to her," Cortez argued, unwilling to give up just yet._

_Cal coughed a little, struggling to get air into her lungs, before looking up at him. "We both know that's-" She paused for a second and then, suddenly, she smiled. Just a little bit. I'm not sure the others noticed but, in that moment, her gaze shifted to me. She looked me in the eyes and I knew she was trying to tell me that it would all be alright. "-that's not gonna be possible."_

_Then she was dead. I'm not sure why we were all surprised when she died. We knew her injuries were to severe. We had known she was dieing, that's why we'd tried to make her comfortable. But Spartans have this reputation about them, you know? That whole saying about how Spartans never die. They're just listed as MIA. So I guess we never thought we would actually see one die right before our eyes. We never thought that they are just as human as we are. Now, it's something I'll never forget._

_A few hours later, we were back on _Destroyer DD-993_. It was dinner time by the time we were released from our mission debriefing. None of us were really hungry but we went to the chow hall anyway and got some food. Our usual spot was open so we all sat down. About ten minutes later we were still just sitting there, our food untouched. It was a little strange, being without Check, but it was the presence of Cal that we were all missing the most. Without her we were all pretty listless. Dutch and I were staring at the window, not really thinking of anything, while Cortez just slumped in his seat, his face towards the ceiling. I swear, there must have been a little rain cloud hanging over our table, we were all so depressed._

_Apparently some people are to dumb to realize when they're not wanted, though. We're all just sitting there, stewing in our depression, when this marine comes up to us, chattering on, and sits at our table. Normally, we would have kicked him out right away but we were all pretty slow in the reaction department just then so we let him sit, talk, and hand out the apples he'd brought._

"_Heard about what you guys did down there," he said, a huge grin on his face. "You took out a Prophet and stopped the Covenant supply chain dead for the entire Arc sector! They say a Spartan died there. Went down faster than a new boot on his first day of basic. I thought those guys were supposed to be unbeatable. I guess he didn't have what it takes to hang with the Helljumpers, huh?" Any normal person would have known to leave at that moment. Both Cortez's and Dutch's faces had morphed into glares and snarls. Dutch even snarled at the marine to shut up. He didn't hear them, to busy enjoying his apple and thinking that the words he'd said would flatter us. So he also didn't see me pick up the apple he had put beside my tray and hurl it at his face, catching him in the temple. He fell out of the seat and to his knees, the apple falling down to hit him in the head. "What's your problem?" he had the gall to ask, turning back towards us. "What the hell's the matter with you guys?! What'd I say?"_

_I don't know if the others answered him. I just turned back towards the window and let my mind drift again. She was there, you know. It was like, if I could just focus enough, I could see her again, standing right in front of me. I thought of how she'd saved me, time and time again. How she'd taken the attack meant for me. How, even as she died, she was still trying to make sure I was alright._

_But, most of all, I thought about how I never did thank her._

"And that's it," O'Brien finished, his eyes dull as he looked back towards the glass wall. "The mission occurred about a week ago. The guys and I have seen more ONI officers in the last week then I ever thought existed. And it's weird, you know, but it's like they're trying to cover the whole thing up. We're all under strict orders not to talk about Cal or the mission to anybody." He met Kaine's eyes again, a bitter smile on his face. "Something else you can write me up for, I guess."

"Over my dead body," Kaine replied, fighting down her own emotions. "Humans can't heal from situations like this if they aren't allowed to talk about it." Mendez's face floated before her gaze, scowling as he ranted at them again and again until his words were seared into their minds. "Mental wounds are just like physical wounds, O'Brien. You have to bleed them out or they'll get infected. Sadly, the only way to bleed out mental wounds is to talk about them." That got a tired smile out of the man before her. He could hear the voice of experience coming from her mouth.

The two sat in silence a while longer, each lost in their own thoughts. Glancing at her watch, Kaine realized that formation was long over. Actually, it was nearing lunch time. No doubt Eric and the Master Sergeant, Cortez, were looking for the two of them. "We should probably go join the ship population, O'Brien, before they send search parties after us." He didn't reply, just nodding despondently and followed her as she crawled through the ship's innards again, aiming for the open ventilation shaft that had led to their location.

As feared, Eric and Cortez had organized several search parties that had been scouring the ship for the two Helljumpers. They were both lectured by their respective commanders for missing formation and causing others to worry. However, it was soon obvious that neither were mentally present enough to actually hear what was said. Eric finally dismissed them both and watched as they left his office, O'Brien being dragged to the chow hall while Kaine made straight for the officer quarters. Even Eric wasn't aware of the specific's of the mission O'Brien had been on but he did know that a Spartan had been sent on the mission and had not returned. He could only guess how Kaine felt, being told about that.

In the safety of her quarters, Kaine leaned against the door and slid to the floor as she finally allowed the tears to fall. When she closed her eyes she could see Cal, clear as day. She could see that super pale hair and remembered how it silky it felt, even after camping out in the woods for weeks with no showers. Those pale yellow eyes that caught every detail about what was happening around them, no matter how small. Cal had always been the Spartan the group turned to when they needed to track something. It didn't surprise Kaine at all that Cal had sacrificed herself to save O'Brien. She'd always been that way, loving and caring for others even as they cursed and spit at her. It wasn't uncommon for her to find joy and humor in hopeless situation. O'Brien was right, she'd probably been laughing every time he tried to insult her.

And now she was dead. How many other Spartans had died since Kaine had left the program? How many of her brothers and sisters were still alive, somewhere out in space? How many had she lost forever? "O'Brien never got to say thank you," she told the empty room, rubbing the tears away even as they were replaced by fresh ones. "I never got to say I'm sorry."

Sitting in the silence of the room, Kaine could almost imagine that Cal was there with her. When she closed her eyes she could pretend that her friend was kneeling right before her, giving her that little smile that she always had. In that moment, she could forget that Cal was dead.

"I forgive you," Cal would say, giving Kaine a look that rebuked her for thinking that the pale girl had ever held a grudge. "And tell O'Brien that I said he's welcome." Her eyes would take on that tender cast that Cal had always reserved for the other Spartans. "Don't be sad that I am dead. Be happy that we knew each other when I was alive. Remember, so long as there are people who remember me, I won't truly be gone." Her hand would reach out to brush away Kaine's tears-

Kaine's eyes flew open, feeling something brush her cheek. The room was just as empty as it had been. Everything was still and silent, undisturbed. But her cheek still tingled, remembering the gentle touch that had brushed the tears away for a moment. "Cal," she whispered, half expecting a response. None came, but when she went to stand up something fell from her lap. Startled, she picked up the two items and realized they were Cal's dogtags.

Halsey and the other scientists had refused to even consider letting the children learn about religion but that didn't stop them from asking. Mendez had always told the Spartans that sometimes things happened that couldn't be explained. He'd told them stories of disasters that had no meaning and miracles that defied all explanations. Though he was always quick to say that he didn't believe in a god or anything like that, he did admit that it was possible. "Sometimes," he would tell them, "something will happen and the only real explanation is that somehow, somewhere, there's something or someone far more powerful than us that is acting in our lives. You can call it a god if you want. You can call it a higher being. I'm not sure what it is, but I do know this. It's real and it's out there.

Clutching the dogtags tightly in her fist, Kaine spun on her heels and left her quarters. She'd give one of the dogtags to O'Brien and pass on Cal's message. Maybe she'd even tell O'Brien the truth about her and her past. Eric had always said that she needed someone else that she could trust with the truth. He wouldn't always be there for her and she'd need someone that could cover the slips she still made. With the dislike Helljumpers had for Spartans, O'Brien was likely the only one she could trust. Besides, Cal trusted him, didn't she? She trusted him enough to die for him.

Maybe that something or someone, hidden in that somewhere location, had somehow let Cal talk to her one last time. It shouldn't have been possible and no doubt science would insist that it hadn't occurred. But at the end of the day, did it really matter? Now her final memory of Cal would be of friendship and forgiveness. What else could possible matter? Besides, she rather liked the idea that something had allowed Cal to come back to speak to her.

That meant that when Kaine died, she'd be able to see Cal again.

* * *

_Babble time: This chapter is based off of the Halo:Legends episode, the Babysitter. Hope you all like O'Brien because he's one of the characters that is here to stay._


	4. Ghostly Memory

**Ghostly Memory**

The pounding of a fist on the door was what woke Kaine from her hard-earned sleep. Growling, she pushed herself out of the bed, hissing as her leg complained at the rough treatment. The medics had warned her that she should not be putting weight on it just yet but since when had she ever listened to a medic? After the final augmentations, she'd lost all respect for anyone in the medical field.

The person was still knocking, dragging Kaine from her thoughts. "If this is for anything less than Covenant invading the ship I'm assigning you to the most dangerous post I can think of," she yelled at whoever had disturbed her, finally keying the doors to slide open. The sight of O'Brien standing on the other side caught her off guard. "O'Brien? What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in bed yourself by now."

"We're needed in the hangar bay," he told her tiredly, smiling an apology. "Covenant attacked some research facility nearby and the survivors are being diverted to us. 105th Helljumpers are on duty at the moment so we're all being mobilized to help with the sudden influx of marines." Groaning, Kaine allowed herself to lean against the wall. She and the rest of Seventh Platoon had just gotten back from a two-week engagement with Covenant forces on Draco V. They'd been looking forward to a time of rest back on the ship. Then again, no one had been expecting this change of events.

"Understood," she sighed, raking a hand through her hair, wincing as it was caught in a snarl. "How soon will the transports be coming in?"

"They're coming in now," was the answer, followed by another groan from the girl. "The pilots claim that their radio power is down so they couldn't send word until they were nearly on us. Commander Faldon is scrambling, trying to find enough room for all of them especially as most are injured and our medical facilities are not large enough to handle them all." Kaine waved him off, knowing full well how large the ship's medical section was. It wasn't even large enough to hold all of Seventh Platoon.

"We better get moving then," she said, forcing herself to stand free of the wall. It was times like this that she was glad for her Spartan training. Most other Helljumpers wouldn't have been able to pull themselves together enough to go another mile like this. In fact, she was convinced that O'Brien was the only Helljumper that could keep up with her, more because of his damn stubbornness than any other reason. She knew better than to question it, after five years of him being her shadow. If she'd known he would attach himself to her as he had she never would have told him the truth about her history. However, she had a suspicion that at least some of his loyalty to her came from the fact that he was still trying to pay Cal back for saving his life so many times.

Trotting through the halls, the duo made their way towards the hangar bays. Marines were rushing all around them, doing a remarkable impersonation of an overturned anthill. Interspersed in the chaos was the occasional Helljumper, each one calmly going about their duties. Each made sure to salute Kaine as she walked by but she quickly waved them back to their tasks. She was well known for her reluctance to pull Helljumpers away from tasks they had been assigned to.

"Vincent," she said under her breath, dodging another panicking private. She knew the AI could understand her thoughts and didn't her need to vocalize the words but with all the thoughts whirling around her mind she needed the spoken words to ground herself. "What can you tell me about the situation?" There was a short pause before the dry voice impressed itself upon her mind.

"The planet Algolis was attacked by Covenant forces," he informed her, his voice quiet in contemplation. "The UNSC Weapons Research Facility, T12A, was the focus of their attack. No doubt, they wanted data from the facility's main computer bank. T12A developed almost all of our most current weapons and were the leading group on studying and replicating Covenant technology. Cole protocol was put into action, wiping the computer banks of all data while marines physically destroyed all prototypes. Attempts were made to evacuate personnel with varying degrees of success. However, near the end of the battle there were a peak number of shuttles that actually managed to escape the combat zone and make it to safety. After the last of the shuttles were in the clear, a large explosion occurred, wiping the facility off the map. The ship that the shuttles evacuated to fell under Covenant attack itself. It managed to escape but was badly damaged. They are now sending all survivors from the planet to us."

Narrowing her eyes, Kaine mentally nodded towards Vincent. She could see why he sounded so contemplative. Some of the events he reported were a little to perfect. Most people would call it luck or coincidence but Kaine didn't believe in either. No Spartan did. There was always a reason for anything that happened. Sometimes that reason would never be known but it was still there.

Entering the hangar, Kaine was instantly assaulted by yelling and the overwhelming scent of blood. She still wasn't sure if the Spartans had undergone any augmentations that enhanced their senses or if they'd just been trained that way but the sudden onslaught of, noise and scent almost drove her to her knees. It was training and stubbornness alone that kept her on her feet. Well, that and O'Brien catching her when her knees trembled.

"I'd say they've landed," she noted dryly, trying to hide the sudden tremors that had overcome her body. "Come on; let's see where we're needed." It didn't take them long to find another Helljumper officer. O'Brien was sent to help the marines that were trying and failing to keep track of all the wounded survivors that were flooding the ship. Kaine, however, was sent to aide the medical teams as she had experience treating combat injuries. Just another skill that Spartan training had gifted her with. Normally Kaine would have argued, her dislike for all things medical well known amongst the Helljumpers, but in the face of this seeming disaster she held her tongue and accepted the task, she was given. That didn't stop her from taking a bitter amusement in the looks of shock she received from O'Brien and the officer when she accepted her orders. There were so few moments that she could actually find humor in her life.

Such thoughts were thrown away as her gaze fell upon the first of many injured soldiers. She fell to her assignment with a single-mindedness that had been a blessing and a curse during her years as a Spartan. Her whole world consisted of the injured person that she was treating. Once the person was stable, she would move on to the next one. Time lost all meaning as she went from man to man; doing what she could for each.

"Thanks, sir, it feels better now," her current patient said, making her smile. He'd been easy to help, only having a broken leg that needed to be set. She wouldn't have been helping him at all except that she'd been at her assignment for hours and all the serious patients had already been treated.

"Happy to help, soldier," she told him, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm not sure how we're doing on space at the moment but once there's enough room you'll be moved somewhere so that you can rest in peace."

"I'm looking forward to it," he joked, trying to smile through the pain. The ship was running low on painkiller medications so what little they had was being reserved for serious cases. No doubt, Commander Faldon was scrambling to get them more medical supplies. Kaine didn't want to be near him if he was ever denied those supplies. "Sir?" She focused on the soldier again, startled. "I have a message from our commanding officer. He meant to send it to Reach but the Covenant had jammers up and then our radio systems crapped out. The message was recorded and given to me so that I could pass it on." He pulled a chip out of his pocket and handed it to Kaine, trying to keep his blood off it. "Could you make sure the message is transmitted to Reach?"

"I'll fly it there myself if that's what it takes," she assured him, slipping the chip into the safety of her belt. "Mission completed, solider. Now here's your next mission. Rest so that your body can heal." The marine chuckled and nodded, settling on to his stretcher.

Heaving herself to her feet, Kaine glanced around the hangar. To her surprise, it was mostly empty. Most of the new marines were gone, spread out through the ship in whatever space could be found. No doubt, the medical ward was packed with the serious cases, the medics finding themselves horribly outnumbered by patients. She should probably head that way to lend a hand. However, first she angled herself towards the cluster of marines that were still trying to make sure all their new additions were accounted for. Kaine nearly laughed when she saw O'Brien's hassled appearance. It was amazing the man hadn't started climbing the walls by now.

"You seem to be having fun," she teased, catching his attention. The glare he threw her made her laugh. O'Brien never had been good at handling clerical jobs. "I'm gonna help out in the medical ward after I drop off a message to be sent to Reach. If you see Commander Faldon before I do tell him that he owes us some R and R for this." That drew a haggard smile from the man as he nodded before another marine started asking him some question in a very shrill voice. The look of pure torture on his face made Kaine laugh as she trotted away.

She was only half way to the communication center when she felt a hum in her mind. "Interesting." Glancing around to make sure she was alone, she sent a querying thought towards her AI. "The message," he elaborated. "It is a little surprising. Here, I'll play it for you." Kaine settled into a small alcove and closed her eyes, focusing on the electrical pulses that her mind translated into words.

"_Transmission from orbit around Algolis. Cole Protocol enforced. All weapons, prototypes, and accompanying navigational databases eliminated. The soldier I previously recommended for military court-martial is-I rescind and redact that portion of my earlier report. That soldier is officially missing in action, lost during heavy combat on Algolis. He demonstrated honorable conduct, not only as a marine, but also as a human being. We're heading for rendezvous with the _UNSC Heart of Midlothian_. Over and out."_

"Curious, isn't it?" Vincent continued as Kaine resumed her trek to the communication section. "What could have happened that a commanding officer would rescind his earlier report for that soldier?"

"I'm more curious about how you managed to download the chip's data considering your current location," she grumbled, hoping no one was around to hear her. She'd been caught speaking to Vincent enough that she had become slightly paranoid about it.

"I manipulate your body's electromagnetic field, of course," he replied, rebuking her with his tone. "I am, after all, right behind your collar bone. How am I supposed to know everything that's happening around you if I don't use your body's electromagnetic field? I've adapted enough that I can use that field to transfer into anything you touch." Kaine clenched her fist, suddenly thinking of all the different computers she handled. "Which reminds me, you should suggest to ONI that they should tighten their security. It's pathetically easy to hack into their systems anymore."

"I'd rather avoid ONI at all costs," Kaine hissed, turning down the final hall to her destination. "After all, as far as they're concerned, we're both dead. I'd like to stay that way." Vincent fell silent with a grumble, leaving Kaine to her thoughts.

Unfortunately, Vincent was right. The marine commander's report was very curious. It would take a serious infraction for a soldier to be recommended for a military court-martial. What could have possibly happened to make the commander not only withdraw his recommendation but also to then go on and praise the soldier in question?

Entering the communication room, Kaine was taken back by how busy it was. People were rushing around everywhere, holding what seemed to be hundreds of conversations. There also seemed to be twice the amount of humans that there should be.

"Colonel Faldon!" called one of the marines that Kaine actually recognized. He quickly trotted over to her, dodging through the crowd with a practiced ease. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I was told the message on this chip needed to be sent to Reach," she said, pulling the chip out of her belt. "One of the marines brought it in." Another marine jostled past her, knocking into her shoulder. The marine she was speaking to instantly opened his mouth to yell but she waved him quiet. "Relax, Staff Sergeant. I'm not in uniform right now and I didn't recognize him so I'm guessing he's new. Actually," she looked around the room meaningfully, "I'm assuming a lot of these people are new."

"Sort of, sir," the marine answered, still looking upset about how Kaine had been jostled aside. "Commander Faldon is having a difficult time finding space for all the incoming marines so he's ordered that all of the incoming marines that are uninjured shall report to areas on the ship that they would work at if this had been a simple crew transfer. Most of these marines are survivors that would work in the research facility's communication control. Apparently their communication station is about five times as large as ours."

"Of course it is," Kaine sighed, easing the weight off her injured leg. "They had a whole planet; they could build their buildings as large as they wanted. We're confined to the room available to us on an admittedly small ship." She watched the new marines for a moment, her eyes sharp and calculating while the marine squirmed a little. The Helljumpers had become accustomed to her intensity but most other humans didn't have to spend enough time around her to become comfortable with her quirks. "Staff Sergeant, what happened down there? I've only been able to get bits and pieces." She made sure not to mention the report on the chip; the report that she had no right knowing what it said.

"I haven't heard everything either," the marine replied. "Probably no more than you have, at least. Still, Ghost was quite the hero, wasn't he?"

Kaine's gaze flicked back to the marine, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Ghost? What did he have to do with any of this? Before she could ask there was a call from somewhere in the mass of humanity and the marine had to leave. Waving him off distractedly, Kaine set her path towards the medical ward of the ship.

Ghost, huh? She remembered hearing about him. Eric had spoken of him a few years ago. Ghost was one of the best marines in the UNSC; some would call him a prodigy. He'd even been considered for the Helljumpers. However, Ghost was not only a very independent person, he was also very cold. There were several reasons why he received the call-name Ghost. Then, three years ago, the situation got worse. Ghost had been on a mission, leading a platoon of marines on some unknown planet. They'd run into some ambush and Ghost had been the only survivor. Kaine had seen him once after that. He'd always looked reserved, holding himself apart from others, but the look had changed. It was as if he was completely cut off from the human race. Personally, Kaine compared him to her Spartan friends that had become Grey Team. Fiercely independent; horrible at following orders; doing things his own way, consequences be damned. Acceptable traits for Spartans. Not so acceptable for anyone else.

She hadn't heard much about Ghost since then. As far as she'd known, he'd simply gone back into marine service though she'd heard that he had gained the reputation of being a cold, unfeeling person. A real ghost. "Vincent, was Ghost up for any disciplinary actions?" she asked, increasing her speed only to slow back down with a hiss. Right, injured leg. Had to remember that.

"Yes," came the answer after a moment to search through his data. "The marine that was operating under the call-name of Ghost was recommended for military court-martial. Seems you're guess is correct; Ghost is the marine the commander was talking about." Nodding her head distractedly, Kaine growled under her breath. Eric had always said that her curiosity was like an insatiable beast that should never be woken. Come to think of it, John had often said the same thing. A sigh filtered through her mind. "You're going to investigate this, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't," she answered grimly, eyes focused ahead. She ignored his answering grumble as she stepped through the doorway into the medical ward. It was crazier and more cramped than the communication section had been. There were marines shoved into every conceivable space, most untreated with any type of drug or medication so they were moaning or crying. Down the halls that led to private rooms, Kaine could see even more bodies, some laying far too still for her liking. Feeling slightly detached, she watched a medic pull a sheet over one of the marines she had treated in the hangar. All those people that spoke about war and made it sound so glorious and wonderful, why didn't they speak about this side of war? Probably because, if they did, people might actually stop fighting.

"Colonel Faldon, I thought I told you to stay off your feet," a doctor called, glaring at the Helljumper. "What do you think you're doing, walking around with your leg like that?!"

"I think I'm doing my job, since the 105th is on duty for the next couple days and I'm their commanding officer," she retorted, biting back the words she wanted to say. This would be a very bad time to reveal her ability to heal quickly and be less affected by the wounds than another Helljumper would be. People were starting to figure out that those were Spartan traits. "I treated some of these men in the hangar and knew you'd be overrun so I came to offer my help." Blatantly looking around and taking in the frazzled state of all the medics, she drawled, "Of course, if you don't need my help I can find something else to do. I'm sure there is another section of the ship that would welcome my aide." The doctor scowled darkly, tempting a bitter smile to bloom upon Kaine's face. There were always ways to manipulate people.

"Choose a patient then," the doctor finally barked, clearly disapproving her actions. "If you get in over your head, yell." It went unsaid that it was doubtful anyone would be able to respond to her yells. Instead, Kaine just nodded before choosing a marine that was at the far side of the room, where it seemed like he had been abandoned, and walking over.

"So what's wrong with you?" she asked the marine as she finally stepped into his line of sight. O'Brien was always chiding her for her lack of bedside manner. At least, he did until she bluntly told him that bedside manners were a useless skill to Spartans. The only wounded person a Spartan was ever supposed to treat was another Spartan and they all understood that in a medical situation there was no time to waste. The one playing medic needed to know what they were treating right away. Bedside manner was just a waste of time. After that conversation, O'Brien never brought the subject up again.

"I'm-not sure," the marine answered, taking short gasps instead of breathing deeply. "My chest-hurts-and I-can't breathe." Narrowing her eyes, Kaine quickly looked around for any file that could tell her what injury he was suffering. There was nothing. Grumbling, Kaine gently palpated the man's chest, noting whenever he winced. At first, she couldn't find anything wrong though. There were no broken bones to be found and no open wounds.

"He popped the cartilage around his ribs," Vincent reported. "Not a very serious injury but it will keep him down for a while." Hissing mentally, Kaine flicked the AI away. His know-it-all attitude was getting on her nerves.

"Is there a specific area that hurts more?" she asked, grinding her teeth in frustration. After all, she couldn't just tell the guy what was wrong with him without having first locating the source of the injury. She'd revealed knowledge she shouldn't have to many times already.

"Left-side," he gasped, trying to lay still. "Lower section." Nodding, Kaine let her fingers drift there and pressed. Yeah, she could feel it now. Mostly because she knew what to feel for.

"Feels like you popped the cartilage," she stated, ignoring Vincent's irritated grumbles. "It's not serious but we need to refuse the cartilage. I'll just get the fuser-" She paused to look around, again noticing how busy everything was and sighed. "On second thought, I doubt we have one. Right then, looks like old-fashioned binding is what we're gonna do." Luckily, the bandages were right nearby, allowing Kaine to grab a couple quickly and return. "Can you sit up?"

"I think so," the marine gasped before trying to lever himself up. In the end, he needed some help but he was soon sitting upright without support. Carefully, Kaine started winding the bandage around him. "Sir?" he suddenly asked, making her pause. "Do you know-what happened-to my-commander?"

"Who was it?" she asked, resuming her wrapping. It was probably pointless to ask, as she hadn't bothered to learn the names of any incoming marine so far but there was such a thing as being polite. Although, she admitted that she normally ignored the impulse.

"Ghost." She stopped again, looking at the man in shock. He must have misunderstood her look as he hastened to add, "That's not his-really name-of course. I'm-actually not sure-what his-name is. But he's about-my height with-black hair and-"

"He's dead," she cut in bluntly, meeting the marine's eyes. "From what I heard, he never made it off the planet." Icy silence fell upon the pair, the marine staring as though he would refuse to believe her. Then the grief settled in and he nodded.

"I-thought so," he admitted, letting his gaze lower. "I just-didn't want to-believe it." Slowly, his hand curled into a fist. Kaine pretended not to notice when the tears slid down his face. "I never-got to apologize."

"I'm sure he knows," she said, voice oddly gently, startling the marine. "I've had people die on me before I had time to tell them something important. That I was sorry, that I loved them, that I forgave them, stuff like that. Over the years, I've realized that they know. I'm not sure how but they do." Finished with the bandages, she clapped him on the shoulder. "Ghost knows you're sorry. I'm sure he's forgiven you." He nodded but she wasn't sure he believed her. Understandable, of course, but she was a little disappointed.

A yell from across the room pulled Kaine away but her mind continued to puzzle through the situation. Whatever had happened on Algolis, Ghost had done something that not only resulted in his commander having a change of heart in regards to court-martial but also had at least one of his men wanting to apologize to him. Inwardly, she seethed. It was impossible to build any sort of picture when she was missing so many large junks of information.

Hours later, Kaine was finally able to take her first break. Actually, it was more like she was forced to take her first break. All the seriously injured marines had been treated and the medical staff was able to handle the remaining men on their own. The doctor that had treated Kaine's leg ordered her back to her quarters but she waved him off, instead heading towards the bridge. In a situation like this, she knew Eric would still be on the bridge, getting more supplies in-between struggling to find room for the new men. He wouldn't be any happier to see her up and around than the doctor but he'd also understand that it was her duty at the moment.

The bridge was almost as busy as the communication sector though not as cramped. There were a few new faces but not the deluge of numbers that had flooded the rest of the ship. A naval officer that had been assigned to the ship for a few months spotted her and gestured towards Eric's ready room. She nodded her thanks before making her way over, receiving a few glares from the new people. Eventually she'd have to head back to her quarters and put on a uniform or she'd just be asking for a confrontation.

"Sir, we can't keep them all here," Eric said through the open comm as Kaine stepped in. He glanced at her and nodded, acknowledging her presence. She nodded back before taking an at-ease position, prepared to wait as long as she needed. "We already have a full compliment," the Commander continued, turning back to his screen. "The ship is bursting at the seams. We don't have enough food, room, or supplies."

"I understand that the situation is uncomfortable," the person on the other side said, sounding like one of those paper pushing bureaucrats. "However, we don't have the resources to send out just because your situation is not ideal. We are at war, in case you haven't noticed." Out of sight from the screen, Kaine winced. This person had obviously never dealt with Eric before. She almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

"Oh really?" the Commander asked, his voice deadly quiet. That was not a good sign. "I hadn't noticed that we were at war. I thought having aliens shooting at my men, watching entire planets be glassed, and sending home the bodies of my men who died, if we were lucky enough to have a body, was just a normal part of being human." He leaned forward, his face hard while his eyes nearly spit fire. "Listen to me, you waste of space politician. I did not say that our situation was uncomfortable. I said that it was desperate. Either you clear my request for extra supplies from your base or I am withdrawing every damn Helljumper I sent to protect your worthless ass." Silence for a moment and Kaine could almost hear the other man sweating in fear. "So? Do I get my supplies?"

"They'll be on their way to you in an hour." A cruel grin spread across Kaine's face. Yep, he was terrified. He should be, too. Eric was one of the scariest people she knew and she'd grown up with Chief Mendez. "Is there anything else I can do to help you?"

"Just the supplies," Eric answered, leaning back into his seat. His demeanor was still icy, making it clear that he was still angry. "I expect the supplies here in three hours, is that clear?" The man must have nodded because Eric nodded once. "Wonderful speaking to you, sir. Commander Faldon, out." As soon as the screen went blank, he slumped, allowing Kaine to see how tired he was. "God, I hate politicians."

"You say that every time you talk to one," she remarked dryly, finally stepping forward and taking a seat. She'd never tell him but she felt honored that Eric trusted her enough to not only show weakness to her but also trust her with words that some people would label as treachery. "I keep telling you, if you could just stop talking to politicians your life would become so much easier and stress free."

"The only way to stop talking to the damn leeches is to retire," he informed her snarkily, letting his head fall into his hands. However, he still managed to glare at her from between his fingers. "What are you doing up? I know for a fact that you were confined to bed for the next eighty-four hours."

"I was, but then we had an emergency," she reminded him, slouching in the chair to show just how much importance she put into the lecture she knew was coming. "You might know the one I'm talking about. The emergency where we had a few hundred marines get evacuated to the ship while the whole 105th is on duty."

"Don't get cheeky with me, sir," Eric jibed back, his lips twitching in a parody of a smile as he used her nickname. He'd never let her forget how they met. "That still doesn't tell me why you're still up. I already got the report from our CMO. He praised you for all your help with the new marines but then reminded me that you should be resting. He also mentioned that he ordered you back to bed. So why are you currently sitting in my ready room?"

"There are still injured men lining the hallways. Several marines are being left to suffer through their pain with no painkillers because we ran out. Communications is overrun with new marines that are simply getting in the way. The bridge isn't doing much better. On the other side, since we weren't expecting a catastrophe, I had cleared several group of Helljumpers shore leave so I'm finding myself short-handed now. Perhaps most important, I had to leave O'Brien with a clerical job." She almost laughed at her adopted father's cringe. O'Brien's hatred of anything clerical was nearly legendary. "Please, tell me how I'm supposed to handle all of this while trapped in a bed."

"You just came back from two weeks of near constant fighting on Draco V," Eric shot back, finally lifting his head from his hands. "That's not counting the four months you spent on the planet, trying to prepare various cities for the invasion we knew was coming. You've been thrown through walls, barely escaped innumerable grenades, had more narrow escapes with those Needler spikes than I care to remember, and had your leg virtually crushed by a Chieftain Brute's hammer. By all rights, you should not be alive right now. Is it so hard to understand why everyone wants you to rest?"

Kaine was silent a long time, staring out the nearby window. Her gaze was far away and Eric became concerned. It wasn't often that she became like this. Most people thought she was being pensive. He knew that wasn't the case. That far away look, the detachment from reality, was the Spartan version of depression.

"But I'm not dead," she finally said, her voice quiet. "I was trained as a Spartan, Faldon. All the crap I went through on Draco V isn't anything compared to what we were trained and augmented for. Besides, my Helljumpers need me. They need to see that I'm still here, that I can continue my duty. I know you don't like it but what I went through isn't enough to keep me down." She snorted, sounding amazingly self-deprecating. "After all, my kind are invincible. I thought you knew that." Eric wanted to argue but there was enough self-hatred in her voice to stay his words. It was an ongoing argument the two had had for years. He couldn't understand how Kaine could hate herself so much for being a Spartan. It wasn't as though she had a choice. In addition, it had been noticed by Eric and O'Brien alike that Kaine never referred to herself as a Spartan. She admitted to being trained as a Spartan but the closest she would come to calling herself a Spartan was calling other Spartans 'her kind'.

Then she shook herself, forcing her mind back to the present moment. "I'd like to know what you expect me to do," she told Eric, finally facing him. "No supplies, no room, low on men, and I'm in charge."

"I'm sure you can come up with an answer," Eric replied, arching a brow at her. "Your kind is known for thinking outside the box."

"Exactly why I try not to do it where other people can see," Kaine muttered, eyes narrowed. "Following your orders is acceptable. Showing that my problem solving skills are Spartan level is not."

The comm rung again, alerting the two to an incoming message. Checking the caller, Eric groaned and rolled his eyes. Another person he didn't like then. "Fine, fine," he told her. "Solve the problem yourself and then say that it was my orders. Make me look good."

"Right," she said with a smile as she stood up. "Vincent, inform the crew that we are saying, 'Screw you,' to the UNSC and that everyone can go home as I declare this war over. On Commander Faldon's orders, of course." She laughed at the evil glare she got from her adopted father, throwing him a mocking salute before leaving the room. It wasn't until she was off the bridge and on a lift that she muttered, "Vincent, please tell me you didn't actually send the message."

"Of course not," came the petulant answer. "I've been with you for eleven years; I do know when you are being sarcastic." Kaine sighed in relief and nodded before turning her mind back to solving the disaster that had befallen the ship.

It wasn't until the next day that the mystery of Ghost was brought back to Kaine's attention. She was back down in medical, once again ignoring the dark looks from the medics. The medical supplies had finally arrived and she was nearly anxious to treat as many of the marines as possible. She couldn't truly remember what it was like to go without painkillers before her augmentations but the cries of the men told her that they were in agony. Now that she had the ability to end their pain she would not rest until the men was resting as comfortably as possible.

The marine she was treating had had his arm blown off by a Needler round. He was clearly in a lot of pain but tried to smile and joke with her as she changed his bandages. Normally she held herself aloof from marines but this time Kaine found herself unable to deny the marine, barely out of his teen years, the distraction he was clearly seeking.

"It was insane, all that fighting," he told her as she tried to peel the bandages away without pulling off his scabs. "When I got hit, I thought I was gonna die. I know I might sound like a coward but I was so relieved when our sergeant told us that we wouldn't be going into the real heavy combat areas."

"You're not a coward for thinking that," Kaine told him gently, wincing herself as she pulled off part of his skin, making him hiss. "Any human with a modicum of intelligence would have felt relief at knowing they would be staying in an area that was relatively safe."

"True," he admitted with a strained laugh, resolutely looking away from where she was working. "I wonder if that means Hades Corps was insane for following Ghost into the middle of the heaviest fighting section." He didn't notice her slight pause at his words. Ghost again.

"So, Ghost was in charge of Hades Corps?" she asked, resuming her work on the bandages. She also made a mental note to complain to the CMO about the bandages they were using. The damn things stuck to everything they weren't supposed to stick to.

"Yeah, they were the demolition squad on the base. When the attack started, they were the group that went to destroy all the prototypes." The last of the bandage finally came free, allowing both soldiers to breathe easier. Quickly checking the wound for infection, Kaine puzzled over this new information. Military prodigies were seldom assigned any type of platoon that did not involve combat. Was he assigned a demolition group because of what happened to his last platoon? "I wanted to go after them," the marine continued, hissing as she rubbed some cream into his wound. "Well, before I got hit at least. I made it all the way to the edge of the combat field but then one of my buddies came after me."

"He tell you off for doing something reckless/stupid?" Kaine asked dryly, finally satisfied with the treatment of his wound. Making sure to use the good bandages, she started wrapping him up again.

"Sort of," the marine chuckled. "He cussed me out a little and asked what the hell I thought I was doing. Command had ordered a full retreat and my buddy was less then pleased that I was not retreating."

"Colonel Faldon!" the CMO called, glaring in her direction. Scowling, Kaine waved him off, quickly finishing her task. Giving the marine an apologetic smile, she quickly packed up her stuff.

"Sounds like you have a good friend," she told him, gently clapping him on his good shoulder. "You're here after all. I'm just glad your moment of heroic intent didn't end with you coming home in a box."

"You and me both, sir," he answered shakily but with a smile. "I might have lost my arm when I finally retreated but I probably would have lost my life if I'd continued my rescue mission. Besides, Hades Corps managed to get off the planet by themselves. Although I'm still wondering what weapon system they were destroying. It was in Hangar 1030 and only the most secret weapons are kept there." Kaine noted the hangar in her mind as she nodded and trotted away. As soon as she had some downtime she was going to start putting all these puzzle pieces together. She figured that she owed Ghost that much. First, she had to deal with some hostile parties. Namely-

"Colonel Faldon, give me one good reason why I shouldn't use my medical authority to remove you from duty for the foreseeable future."

-the medical staff.

"You've threatened that since I came in yesterday," she told him dryly, putting her supplies away. The nurse she handed the supplies to threw her a small smile, making sure the CMO couldn't see her. At least some people appreciated her efforts. "Besides, you and I both know that taking me off duty would not help. I can work and volunteer just as much off duty as I can on, if not more." Bemusedly, she wondered if she could cook an egg on the man's baldhead. He was certainly throwing off enough steam.

"Colonel, one of these days you are going to drop dead from working yourself to hard and ignoring doctor's orders. When that day comes, I will take great joy in watching you suffer as I remind you that I told you so." Kaine arched her brow at the furious man. If such an event were possible, she was sure that he would actually do it. She just wouldn't mention that it wasn't possible because of her Spartan enhancements.

"You do that," she told him instead, smiling chirpily before skipping out of the medical ward. There were only a couple untreated marines left and the medical staff could cover them well enough. Of course, the second she was out of sight she quit skipping and clutched her leg, calling herself twenty kinds of idiots. That had not been her best thought out plan.

"I never thought I'd need to find a babysitter for my twenty-one year old daughter." Hoping they were alone, Kaine threw a rude gesture over her shoulder towards Eric. He just chuckled, coming up to stand beside her as she continued to rub her leg. Despite Kaine being a Colonel and in charge of the entire 105th Helljumpers Eric truly enjoyed these moments when she acted like a child. She'd been cheated out of most of her childhood after all. "Would I be overly optimistic if I assumed you were heading towards your quarters to rest?"

Before Kaine could answer, a message came over the ship's communication system, alerting the ship to a minor explosion in one of the hangars. "What's rest?" Kaine asked sarcastically as she ran down the hall, telling the pain in her leg to shut up and go away. For a moment, she wondered if the explosion had been caused by O'Brien trying to escape the clerical work he was still assigned to. After all, the hangar they mentioned was the one that the marines had been given as a headquarters of sorts. She wouldn't be surprise if her friend had been trying his hand at an escape attempt.

About an hour later found Kaine helping the marines as they tried to put the hangar back together. O'Brien had been innocent, for a change. One of the new marines that didn't know that the small purple crates held grenades had decided to push said crate off the box he wanted to reach rather than carefully pick up the small crate and put it somewhere safe. Everything within fifteen feet of the crate had been destroyed while everything else had just been thrown around. The marine was currently in medical, being treated by an already stressed out CMO. Honestly, Kaine had no sympathy for the man. How hard was it to figure out the crate marked **Grenades **had grenades in it?

Struggling with an over turned desk, she cussed under her breath. Did they have to make these desks out of solid steel? After all, they just proved that having desks made of heavy metal didn't stop them from being thrown around in an explosion. Moreover, it wasn't as if she could just use her augmentations and flip it over. No, that would attract way too much attention. Instead she had to make it look like she was struggling which had the adverse result of her act becoming reality. These things were too heavy to grapple with for an extended amount of time.

Just about to give in and drop the damn desk, Kaine was startled when the other side suddenly lifted, throwing her off balance. Righting herself, she glanced over to see an older man holding the other side of the desk, helping her lift it. Between the two of them, the desk was back on its feet in seconds. "Thank you," she breathed sincerely, wiping the sweat away. The man just smiled at her and she smiled back until she spotted the insignia on his shoulder and blinked. "If I might be so blunt, what is an ONI officer doing here?"

The man arched a brow at her, clearly thinking she was insane for asking. "If you can see the insignia you can see my rank, soldier." Yes, she could see his major insignia right there. Why would he-oh yeah. She still hadn't managed time to go back to her quarters and change into a uniform. Note-to-self: trip to quarters has become number one priority.

"My apologies, Major," she replied, straightening her posture and looking him in the eye. "I'm Colonel Faldon, commander of the 105th Helljumpers. Please forgive my lack of uniform; I haven't had the time to get changed since this whole disaster began." Before the ONI man could reply, no doubt with disbelief about her identity, one of the marines rushed up to the two, falling into a salute as he reported to Kaine. Once he was finished, she waved him off, knowing he had just proven her claim to the ONI officer, which she turned back towards. "If I might repeat my previous question, what is an ONI officer doing here?"

"I was just checking on my men," he answered stiffly; apparently uncomfortable with knowing she outranked him. Granted, it was rare to find a twenty-one year old Colonel but come on! That didn't mean she wasn't friendly or reasonable. "I was the commander of T12A and was told that my men had been evacuated to your ship when our other ship was attacked by Covenant. Commander Faldon has already agreed to transport my men to Reach so I chose to come aboard and travel with them."

"I'm sure they appreciate that," Kaine told him with a small smile, trying to appear unthreatening. It hadn't escaped her notice that she was chatting with a person that would gladly kill her if he found out her past. After all, leaving the Spartan program was the same as desertion. Such actions always resulted in death. Now if only she could stop Vincent's acidic comments about the whole ONI branch in general and this man's mother specifically. Honestly, she'd never met an AI with a fouler mouth!

The hangar was nearly sorted, most items back where they belonged. A group from the quartermaster was off in a corner, tearing their hair out as they tried to figure out what items had been destroyed in the explosion. O'Brien was hitting his head against the wall while a marine listed off a list of names to him, not noticing that the Helljumper wasn't paying any attention. Basically, the situation was back to normal. Which meant that Kaine had no excuse to find someone else that could take the ONI officer to the bridge to meet with Eric. Terrific.

"If you would follow me, major, I'll take you to Commander Faldon," she said, gesturing towards the exit. The man nodded and fell into step behind her as she walked off. She could almost feel his gaze flick towards her bad leg as she limped but he didn't mention it. In fact, he kept quiet until they were inside one of the lifts, heading towards the bridge.

"Is Commander Faldon part of your family?" he asked curiously. The question tugged a tired smile to Kaine's face. She'd lost count of how many times she'd been asked that since Corbulo.

"He's my adopted father," she told him, watching the lift walls slide by. "I lost my family at a young age and he took me in." All right, so there were a few years between the two events. ONI didn't need to know that.

"I see," he said. The hairs on Kaine's neck stood up as she felt him eye her suspiciously. "It just that you remind me of some friends of mine. Robert and Candy McCoy." Years of training and sheer need prevented Kaine from stiffening at the names. This was not good. "They have a daughter about your age. A lovely girl named Lillian. Their other daughter, Klare, died when she was ten."

"That must have been horrible," she said sympathetically, her mind racing. Did he know? Did he suspect? Of course he suspected; he wouldn't have brought it up otherwise. She couldn't remember her blood family being friends with anyone from ONI but she'd been gone for fifteen years. Anything could have happened.

"They were pretty devastated," the officer acknowledged, looking forward once more. Maybe she'd allayed his suspicions for now. "My apologies for bringing it up. You just remind me of Klare. You almost look like her. You're just older and harder. Well, that and your silver eyes." Yeah, still suspicious. Wonderful.

"I hear that from a lot of people," she teased, hoping he wouldn't push any farther. "Apparently I look like a lot of people. One of my Helljumpers is convinced that I'm his ex-girlfriend. Which I'm not but I can see why his ex dumped him." That drew a surprised chuckle from the man. Maybe that was the secret to staying hidden. Don't act like a Spartan. Now the only problem left was her thrice-cursed curiosity. This ONI officer was the one that sent that message about Ghost; she recognized his voice. Maybe he could tell her more about what had happened and what Ghost did. "Major, I don't mean to pry but I have some questions about the events on Algolis."

"Everyone has questions," he sighed, slight irritation on his face. Kaine could understand the feeling. No doubt the man had been pestered to the point of insanity about what had happened on the planet. Every commander was when something went wrong in his or her jurisdiction. "What are your questions, Colonel?"

"What happened to Ghost?" He blinked at her, shock and surprise sweeping over his face. That was clearly not the question he was expecting. "I knew him," she tried to explain, shrugging a little. "He was a candidate for the Helljumpers. Some of the marines that we took in have been talking about him and that he died on the planet. I was just wondering what happened." The silence stretched for a moment before the major turned towards the lift doors once more.

"What happened is that he died a hero," he said softly. "Ghost was in charge of Hades Corps, an engineering group. They were the demolition team at Algolis. When Covenant attacked, Cole Protocol was put into effect. Hades Corps was tasked with the destruction of the prototypes in Hangar 1030. I thought they were following orders until I looked out on the battlefield and saw the weapon system that they were supposed to be destroying. It was a giant suit, specifically designed to fight Covenant invasion forces. Ghost was the only marine from Hades Corps that would know how to work the damn thing."

The lift doors slid open, revealing a barren hallway. A tiny portion of Kaine's mind noted how rare the sight was, even without the abnormally high number of personnel on the ship, but the majority of her mind was focused on the ONI officer's words. When he made no move to leave the lift she casually reached out and pushed the locking switch, ensuring that the lift would remain where it was.

"I raised the suit's communication system, furious at Ghost. I demanded to know what he was doing with the suit he was supposed to destroy. Accused him of disobeying a direct order. However, he insisted that he was actually following his orders. I ordered him to explain himself." He closed his eyes, leaning back against the lift's wall. "Ghost told me that he had destroyed all the data on the suit, as ordered, and that he was using what time the suit had left to ensure his men could evac safely. He told me that he wasn't going to leave until every one of his men was safe. In my anger, I didn't listen to him. I told him that his stunt was not in the plan and ordered him to stand down. He refused. The mission could not be compromised, he knew that, but he also felt a sense of responsibility to the marines under his command."

The man fell silent, struggling with the words that did not want to come. Kaine waited patiently. She could only imagine how the man felt. Well, all right, imagine was the wrong term. She'd talked to a few Helljumpers as they ran into situations she knew they would not survive. She knew how hard it was to talk about a person's final words. But Spartans were trained to do the difficult. The strain was probably greater for the ONI man.

"I begged for Ghost to listen to me. The situation was finally coming together in my mind and I realized that Ghost did not intend to survive the battle. But he wouldn't listen to me. He reminded me that the suit had a staggered countdown and needed a voice command at the end to actually self-destruct." His gaze was far away, haunted and grieving. "We designed it that way for a reason. A reason I can't remember now. I tried one more time to reach Ghost; to convince him that there was another way. He didn't have to die. But he wouldn't budge. I remember his last words to me. 'Just get my men off this planet. This is Ghost. Over and out.'" There was finality as the man fell silent once more. Those were the last words Ghost had spoken to him.

The silence stretched until Kaine cleared her throat, catching his attention. "Commander Faldon's office is this way, Major," she said quietly. He nodded and followed her out of the lift, not noticing when she unlocked it. She doubted he'd even noticed it was locked to begin with. The rest of their journey was silent, broken only by the salutes they received as they walked by. Once they reached Eric's office Kaine gestured for him to enter but did not follow. Instead, she made her way back to the lift, determined to find a duty far away from the visiting ONI.

"Vincent," she said under her breath as the lift doors closed behind her, leaving her alone. "If that ONI officer looks up my files, warn me, will you?"

"Of course I will," he answered, no doubt keeping the ONI under constant surveillance. Even with all his gripes and jabs about the ONI department, he knew they were dangerous. He also knew how persistent they could be, even when all they had was a theory. So yes, he'd be keeping an eye on the major. Kaine would just focus on keeping as far away from the man as the ship allowed.

At the moment, that meant returning to the medical ward. Kaine knew that protocol would keep the major busy for a while before allowing him to come visit his injured men. It would allow her time to think of her next plan in relative safety. Of course, first she made a quick detour to her quarters and put on a uniform. Maybe now she'd quit getting those irritating looks.

The plan worked for the most part. All marines, regardless if they knew her or not, got out of her way. A couple that had treated her like a civilian realized who she was and had mild panic attacks. Kaine found herself cackling madly in her mind. Their looks of terror were quite amusing. She could fully understand why Mendez had found such enjoyment in keeping the Spartans in a state of constant terror about when he would strike next. If that meant she was a little demented, fine. She never claimed that Spartans weren't at least slightly sadistic.

The looks of terror changed to looks of irritation and anger as she stepped into the medical ward once more. She cheekily waved to the doctor who was almost foaming at the mouth as he glared at her. Eric would certainly be hearing from him again. Then she spied the marine with the popped cartilage and made her way over. "How are you feeling?" she asked, catching his attention.

"Better," he told her with a smile, the lines of pain absent from his face. He must have received some of the pain medication. "They refused my cartilage a few hours ago so I can finally breathe again. Which reminds me, thank you for your help yesterday. Binding my ribs helped."

"Of course it did," she told him, even as she checked the file that he finally had. Noting the last time he had pain medication, she realized he was due for another dose soon. "I'm not so incompetent in medical circles to not know how to treat popped cartilage. Now hold on while I get you some more pain medication." He nodded, a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth. Seems he didn't find her abhorrent bedside manner to be a bad thing. He was still smirking when she returned with the injection. She found a slight bit of revenge when he winced as she jabbed him. Yes, Spartans were sadistic. However, she had another reason for coming over. "I spoke to the ONI commander. He spoke with Ghost before he died." The marine fell silent, his gaze far away. "I thought you should know that the reason Ghost was in that suit was he was buying time for his men." That got a shocked reaction from the man. "He knew what he was doing, what he was risking. All he wanted was for his men to get off the planet." She met his eyes, very serious. "He cared for all of you."

The marine was silent for a long time, lost in thought. Kaine was just starting to think she wouldn't get a reply when he finally nodded. "We hated him," he said suddenly, catching her by surprise. "Ghost was always so detached. So unfeeling. He didn't endear himself to any of us. When Covenant attacked, Ghost took us to hangar 1030. My buddy and I were stationed outside, trying to hold off the advance. It was looking grim and my buddy wanted to know what we were doing on the front lines when Cole Protocol had been enacted. He noted that the sergeant, Ghost, was missing and that we were screwed. I-I told him we were sunk from the beginning. I knew about the sarge's old platoon being slaughtered and figured he'd just left us there to die. As far as the platoon was concerned, the reason Ghost was called such was because he wasn't even human."

"I know the feeling," she told him quietly, thinking of the time she'd met Ghost after his platoon was killed. He hadn't seemed human.

The marine nodded to her, eyes dull. It helped him, knowing that she understood, but he still hurt. "We got hit," he continued. "My friend and I were blown backwards from an explosion. I think that's when my cartilage popped. Thought I was going to die. So did my buddy, actually. Then, out of nowhere, the suit landed between the Covenant and us. We didn't realize Ghost was in it until he told us to fall back. Said that we weren't to worry about Covenant because he was going to hold them off. And then he said that no one would be dieing there. I wanted that to be true."

"Maybe it was in a way," Kaine mused, drawing the marine from his dark memories. "A dear friend of mine once told me that so long as there were people who remembered her, she'd never truly be dead. Her body would die but her memory would live on. Just like Ghost's memory will live so long as there are people that remember him. Do you understand?"

The pair was silent for a long moment, staring at each other, before the marine finally gave a small smile. "I think I do," he told her. "Thank you, sir." Nodding, Kaine smiled back at him before moving to the next patient. The marine would probably always have doubts about Algolis. Always wonder how things could have been different. Hopefully, though, he'd be able to make peace with himself now.

The next couple of days passed in a near constant blur for Kaine. Normally, the company on duty wouldn't have much work to do during their active time. All that was required was for the company to keep an eye on inventory, patrol the ship, and deal with any conflict the crew might have. Usually, the time was used as a relaxing break from fighting Covenant. However, with over twice the marines on board than the ship could actually hold, the 105th was having a very difficult time.

The ship was going through supplies far faster than normal, the new marines weren't ever sure about what parts of the ship they were allowed on, and altercations between new marines and the marines that were supposed to be on the ship became almost commonplace. This meant that Kaine was in a state of almost constant activity. If she wasn't working with Eric to get more supplies, she was rushing around the ship to settle disputes before they could become real fights. Any spare time she might have found was spent setting up patrols for her men and trying to teach the new marines which areas on the ship were restricted. Overall, it was a very rough rotation and that wasn't even considering the fact that Kaine was constantly dodging the ONI officer. She never really had time to think about what she was going to do next, only what she was doing right then. Therefore, she was surprised when she was approached by a Helljumper from another company.

"Colonel Faldon," the Helljumper greeted, saluting smartly. She held the salute until Kaine returned it. "Forgive my bluntness, sir, but shouldn't you be in bed?" Kaine just blinked at her, unsure of what she meant. "Colonel, you were aware that the 105th rotation ended three hours ago, aren't you?"

"I am now," Kaine finally replied, glancing at a nearby display. Yep, 0307. "I must have got caught up in my work. Thank you for telling me, sergeant. I'll just finish up here before turning in."

"Of course sir," the Helljumper answered, taking a seat at the terminal beside Kaine to begin her own work. They were silent for a while, each absorbed in their work, until the Helljumper broke it. "Sir, I understand that you've been asking about what happened on Algolis, specifically about Ghost. May I ask why?"

Biting back the remark that the Helljumper had asked anyway, Kaine glanced at her instead. "I knew Ghost," she said simply. "I just wanted to know what happened to him. However, getting a straight answer around here is about as likely as training a Grunt to be a pet." The other Helljumper chuckled at the thought; though Kaine actually found the picture it formed in her mind a little morbid.

"That's true," the Helljumper admitted. "But I might be able to help a little. I was in hangar 1030 when Ghost and his platoon showed up." That caught Kaine's attention and she turned to face the Helljumper. "I only saw him for a couple minutes. He and his men came rushing in and started destroying prototypes while Ghost accessed the computer banks and started wiping them clean. Once he was sure that the system would finish wiping itself, he turned to the suit. He kept muttering about how the system had a staggered countdown for self-destruct and he couldn't figure out how to give the voice command without being in the suit.

"That's when he figured out his plan, sir. I could see it in his eyes. By that time, all of the other prototypes were destroyed so Ghost ordered his men to get to the shuttles. Then he turned to me and gave me the same orders. I argued with him, saying that we wouldn't leave until the final prototype was destroyed. He-" Her voice caught and she shook her head. Kaine noted the haunted look in her eyes as she forced herself to continue. "He told me that he would ensure the suit's destruction. Then he told me that enough humans had died that day and he didn't want the number to get any higher. I tried to argue with him but he just ordered me out. Last I saw him, he was climbing into the suit. I didn't realize that he was sacrificing himself. If I had, I would have argued. Although I doubt I could have changed his mind."

"I doubt it too," Kaine remarked dryly, remembering Ghost whenever he made up his mind. She had no doubt that Ghost could have killed an Elite just by glaring at it if he was determined enough. A more stubborn person she'd never met and she grew up with John and Chief Mendez. "Thank you sergeant." She observed the Helljumper for a moment before clapping her on the shoulders, startling her. "I know this might be a pointless statement but don't beat yourself up over Ghost's death. From everything I know about Ghost, both before and on Algolis, he knew what he was doing. This was his choice. We must respect that."

"Yes sir," the Helljumper finally answered, giving Kaine a watery smile. "I'll try to remember that."

"Make sure you do," Kaine replied, giving the Helljumper's shoulder a squeeze before walking off. With her rotation finally over she could almost hear her bed calling to her. However, the seductive whispers of her bed were being drowned out by the furious roaring of her stomach so Kaine changed her destination to the chow hall. Being the middle of the night, she knew that the hall wouldn't be crowded but was sure they would have an abundance of food ready for anyone who happened to be up at this hour. After all, there was always someone on the ship who was awake and hungry.

She wasn't disappointed although she got tired of the cooks asking why she wasn't in bed. Since she didn't recognize any of their faces she assumed that they were rescued marines. The rest of the 105th had probably come through right at midnight, coming off their rotation, which would explain why the cooks knew she should be asleep right now. Luckily, none of them seemed to mind that she brushed off their questions without answering. Maybe the fact that it looked like she was falling asleep where she stood convinced them that she wasn't being rude. Come to think of it, that was probably why they were asking in the first place.

Finally filling her tray, Kaine chose an empty table to sit at. There weren't many Helljumpers in the hall at that moment but she didn't want to risk sitting with them. They were members of the 101st, possibly the only Helljumper Company that she did not get along with. Most times her interactions with the 101st were civil but the odds of that happening were greatly reduced when both parties were tired and less likely to guard their tongues. Better to sit by herself. Besides, sitting by herself ensured that she wouldn't have to converse with anyone, thereby shortening the time until she could get back to her bed.

"Excuse me, but may I sit here?" Then again, maybe not. Checking her sigh, Kaine looked up to find a civilian standing next to the chair across from her. Her surprise at seeing a civilian up at this time of night stayed her tongue long enough to make the woman even more nervous. "I don't mean to disturb you, really. It's just that I don't trust those men over there and I'm afraid to sit alone." Glancing in the direction the woman's eyes had flicked, Kaine spotted a group from the 101st leering at the civilian. Her eyes narrowed, even as she reminded herself that she couldn't shoot the men, as much as she wanted to.

"Of course you can sit here," she told the woman, looking back in time to catch her smile of utter relief. "My apologies for their actions. Rest assured, I will be talking to their commanding officer about their behavior." The woman opened her mouth to argue but shut it when Kaine arched a brow at her. The behavior of the Helljumpers was sickening and she refused to let it go unreported. Understanding that, the civilian just nodded and sat down, cradling her cup of coffee carefully. They were both silent for a few minutes before Kaine noticed how uneasy the woman was. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw the men were still watching her. Desperate to distract herself from the tempting idea of shooting them all between the eyes, she reluctantly started a conversation. "I haven't seen you around the ship before. Did you come from Algolis?"

The sudden words startled the civilian for a moment but she quickly smiled, understanding what Kaine was doing. "Yes, I am. I was one of the scientists that were working for ONI, attempting to replicate Covenant technology." Kaine frowned, wondering what a scientist was doing up so late at night. On the other hand, maybe early in the morning was a better statement. The woman caught her frown though and chuckled in embarrassment. "I realize you're probably used to the scientists that refuse to inconvenience themselves by doing anything as repulsive as working late or being awake when everyone else should be asleep. Normally I like to be asleep at this time of night as much as the next person. Tonight I just-." Her eyes got distant and filled with pain. "I had a nightmare about Algolis. I wasn't brave enough to try and sleep again." Quietly, Kaine nodded and let the subject drop. However, she knew know that the door to conversation was open they would not be silent long. "Were you on Algolis?"

"I was not," she answered, shaking her head slightly. "Actually, I had just returned to the ship from a four month mission on Draco V a couple hours before we received the Algolis survivors."

"Oh," the woman answered, surprised. "My apologies. It's just that the last couple of days whenever I saw you, you were interacting with people I know from Algolis. I assumed you'd been stationed there and I simply hadn't met you before."

Chuckling, Kaine shook her head as she finished her meal. "No, no. My company was on duty the last few days so I've been in charge of taking care of all the Algolis survivors. You know, finding room for them, getting supplies for them, stuff like that." The scientist nodded in understanding, a slight smile in the corner of her mouth. Taking half a second to consider what she was about to do, Kaine decided the risk was worth it. "If you don't mind me asking, I was wondering if you could answer a question I had about the events on Algolis." Cautiously, the woman nodded. "I've been hearing a lot about a suit that was used to fight off Covenant forces. The people I've spoken to have told me a lot about the pilot of the suit but very little of the actual battle. Did you see the battle?"

"Oh yes!" the scientist answered, eyes suddenly sparkling. "I'm not sure if I saw the whole battle but I saw a lot as our shuttle took off. It was a huge suit, mostly black although it had yellow accents. When I first saw it, the suit was using some sort of machine gun to take down a Banshee. Then, before the Banshee could finish crashing, the suit turned and shot a canon at the approaching Covenant forces. It moved so fast I couldn't follow it all the time. Once, the suit used some sort of jetpack and launched into the sky, destroying a Phantom. Back on the ground, it actually raced towards some Covenant troops, blowing right through them. However, those horrible aliens finally focused all fire on the suit and ended up blowing it back into a rock wall. That's the last I saw of the suit. Although it wasn't long after that, that some sort of bomb must have gone off. I've never seen an explosion like that." Kaine nodded, a tiny smile tucked into the corners of her mouth. At least Ghost had made an impression. Before she could start gathering her trash though, the scientist mused, "Of course, I'm sad we lost a Spartan but I suppose it was inevitable."

Kaine froze, her mind shutting down. The scientist couldn't mean what she thought she meant. "A Spartan? I was unaware that there were any Spartans on Algolis."

"I wasn't aware of it either," the woman said with a negligent wave of her hand. "But who else could have piloted the suit like that? Only a Spartan would have been able to hold off Covenant troops. Don't get me wrong, I am sorry that we had to leave them behind, but it doesn't really matter, does it? After all, that's what Spartans are used for. They cover our retreat and protect our secrets, even if it means killing themselves." Silence hung over the table, broken only by the soft cracking that came from the mug Kaine was crushing in her grip. Slowly, she nodded towards the scientist, forcing her face to remain neutral, before getting up and walking away. Stopping only to snarl at the leering Helljumpers and nearly throwing them out of the hall, Kaine quickly made her way towards her quarters. She had work to do.

A couple days later, the ship finally arrived at Reach. Wanting to say goodbye to the marine that had been in Ghost's squad, Kaine dragged herself away from her research and made her way down to the hangar. All the patients were already there, being loaded on to dropships for their trip to the planet. Luckily, the marine she was looking for was still waiting to be loaded. Smiling, she trotted over and greeted him, getting a smile in return. They stood in easy silence, watching the people around them until it was the marine's turn to get on the ship. Considering he was still a little unsteady on his feet, Kaine supported him as he walked on to the dropship.

"Thank you for everything, sir," the marine said as Kaine helped him settle into his seat. She smiled at him, even as she quickly looked over the ship. The last few marines were being strapped in, ready for their trip to Reach. So far, everything was going according to schedule.

"You're most welcome," she told him happily. "However, next time you all decide to come visit I do hope you'll remember to give us a bit of a heads up. No more of these surprise parties." The marine laughed, nodding happily, as one of the shuttle crew started strapping him down. Giving a small wave, Kaine scrambled back off the ship, already planning the next step in her research of Ghost. However, before she could head towards the records section she literally ran into a solid chest. Stumbling back, she finally focused enough to see Eric's unimpressed look. "Commander! I didn't see you."

"I figured as much," he told her dryly, arching a brow as her face flushed. This moment was definitely making her list of Most Embarrassing Moments. "I just came to wish you safe travels, Colonel." The words jarred through her embarrassment, leaving her blinking.

"Sir?" she queried. "I was just here to see the marines off."

"No, you will be getting you ass back on the shuttle and going to Reach," Eric retorted. "The 105th has been off duty for the last two days and you still refuse to rest. I have received reports from all over the ship pertaining to your near constant activity and research. The CMO is ready to have an apoplexy, trying to figure out how to confine you to bed rest. He also reports that your leg is not healing as well as it should because of your refusal to rest. Considering your past, you should have healed long ago. Ergo, I have decided to assign you five days of R and R. Now get back on the shuttle."

Kaine gaped at him, momentarily forgetting where they were. Her mind understood his words perfectly. Believing them was another matter. "You can't be serious, sir," she finally managed.

"I'm dead serious," was the reply. "I've even gone so far as to assign another Helljumper to accompany you as a babysitter to insure that you actually rest."

"You what?!" she almost wheezed, her eyes bugging out of her head. "You're not only forcing me to go on R and R but your also assigning me a guard?! Don't you trust me?"

"No. The last time I sent you on R and R for the purpose of you taking a vacation I received a complaint from the base commander that you had completely rearranged his base in every way from supplies to squad assignments."

"But sir, he was incompetent!"

"I don't care. Now get on board." Kaine opened her mouth to argue some more but was cut off by, "If you say anything other than 'Yes, sir,' I will make it ten days." Her mouth snapped shut almost painfully as she clearly struggled to swallow her words. Eventually she managed a nod; her voice still tied up, and turned to re-board the ship. That was when she finally noticed O'Brien was sitting near the cockpit, dressed in civilian clothes. The seat next to him was empty and she threw herself into it, grumbling darkly as she strapped herself in.

"What are you doing here?" she finally huffed as the shuttle doors closed as they prepared for take-off. O'Brien shifted nervously before sighing.

"I'm your babysitter," he mumbled. Groaning, Kaine let her head fall back to strike the metal wall. This was going to be a great R and R. Why did Eric love torturing her so?

Five days later, Kaine stepped off the shuttle once more. She rolled her shoulders with a pained groan as she made a mental note to never return to the ship on a shuttle filled with new supplies. The ship was so cramped she had wondered how they had any room for breathable air.

"I'm never doing that again," O'Brien wheezed, finally squeezing off the cramped shuttle behind her. Kaine threw him a sympathetic look as he took the opportunity to stretch. At least her Spartan training prevented her from falling prey to claustrophobia. The older Helljumper didn't have that luxury. "Do we have to report to Commander Faldon now or can we catch a bite to eat?"

"I'll report in," she told him, gently touching the bag that was slung over her shoulder. "I need to drop off my report anyway. You can head to the chow hall. Just save me a spot." He nodded in acceptance, throwing Kaine a small smile, before trotting towards the exit. Kaine watched him for a moment, using the seconds to collect herself, before taking a deep breath and heading towards the lift. Vincent informed her that Eric was in his quarters but still awake despite the late hour. So that's where she went, quietly moving through the halls. There weren't many Helljumpers in the halls considering it was long after night shift was to begin. Those that were out greeted her pleasantly, some asking how her R and R went. They then proceeded to laugh when she made a disgusted face. Another one of her quirks that had become infamous among the Helljumpers was her dislike for R and R.

Reaching Eric's quarters, Kaine knocked respectfully and waited until she heard a call for her to enter. Obeying, she quickly spotted her adopted father at his desk, a stack of reports beside him. He smiled as she entered; putting down the pad he had been looking at. "Welcome home, Kaine," he greeted, genuinely pleased to see her. "Did you enjoy your R and R?"

"You know full well that I never enjoy my R and R's," she retorted but was unable to sound sharp as a smile spread across her own face. She'd die before she'd admit it but she'd missed Eric. A lot. "O'Brien kept me from any strenuous duty as you ordered but that didn't stop me from working."

"I was afraid of that," Eric grumbled, leaning back in his chair with a look of long-suffering on his face. "Let me guess, you've completely rearranged the duty roster? Mixed up our platoons? Had Vincent hack into ONI databanks so that he could change the name of every ONI officer into something immature and demeaning? Bought a bunch of rabbits and let them loose at UNSC command?"

Allowing her smile to turn innocent with a hint of evil in the corners, Kaine took the seat before him. "Oh, so you heard about the UNSC? Did they manage to catch all the rabbits yet? And how did you find out about the ONI prank?" Eric just held up a pad that apparently came from an "Admiral Chicken-Butt". "Ah. So they haven't managed to fix it yet. Oops." She laughed as Eric scowled at her. He should have known better than to force her on R and R. Then she turned serious, catching the man by surprise. "Still, I did some serious work as well, sir." Realizing she was now in formal mode, Eric sat up straight. Reaching into the bag she carried, Kaine pulled out a pad and handed it to the man.

He quickly accessed the report and skimmed through it. His eyebrows arched, surprised, before he met her gaze once more. "A report on Ghost's action on Algolis? Why did you make this? The incident on Algolis has already been reported in full and Ghost's actions were noted."

"I made that report for two reasons," Kaine answered, her posture still very stiff. "The first is that Ghost deserves to have his story told. I read the report on Algolis, sir. Ghost was mentioned in passing. He was a hero. Everything he did was heroic. People still refer to Ghost as an unfeeling shell of a human being. They don't realize what he did and what he sacrificed. He deserves more than that." Eric nodded in understanding. The Algolis report was sparse on information about Ghost. Honestly, Eric himself had been unaware of Ghost's full actions until skimming Kaine's report. He could only imagine what he'd learn when he read the report in full. However-.

"You said you had two reasons," he reminded her, meeting her gaze squarely. "What is the second one?" Kaine shifted in her seat though her gaze remained steady. She wasn't nervous about what she wanted to say. She just wasn't sure how to say it.

"I've spoken to some of the people that witnessed the suit in battle. People that didn't know that Ghost was the person operating the suit. Every one of them assumed it was a Spartan that was fighting." Catching movement, Eric glanced down at her hands. They were clenched into fists and shaking with suppressed emotions. What sort of emotions, he wasn't sure, as her face and voice were still neutral. "It's wrong, sir. Wrong that they assume the soldier was a Spartan for no other reason than the suit fought and held against Covenant forces." Now Eric could see the tightening around her eyes. Kaine was mad. "Spartans have enough on their shoulders, sir. They are hated and feared and shunned and worshiped and revered, sometimes all at the same time. People call them monsters but the second they need help they look for a Spartan to save them. They claim to know who and what Spartans are but they really don't know anything. Spartans were trained to be a secret weapon against insurrectionists but became humanity's only hope for survival."

Kaine leaned forward, finally allowing Eric to see the passion she had for the words she was speaking. "They don't deserve the weight that humans have put on them, sir. They are only human, just like you and me. There are so few Spartans left that it's unfair to expect them to win this war on their own. Ghost proved that someone besides a Spartan could stand up to the Covenant and fight. He proved that humans don't need Spartans to save them. They can save themselves. All it takes is a little bit of skill and a lot of courage. I want people to know that. I want people to realize that they can defend themselves. I want humans to realize that we can win this war as a group." Her eyes softened, showing a pain that Eric had never seen before. "I want to remove some of the weight that the Spartans carry. Even if only a tiny bit."

Silence fell upon the pair, the kind of silence that deafened. Both Helljumpers held their poker faces, unwilling to show their emotions. Eric because he was trying to work through a series of emotions. Kaine because she didn't trust herself with the powerful emotions that were racing through her. It had been a long time since she had felt so strongly about anything. Truthfully, she was a little disconcerted.

"I understand," Eric finally said, allowing a little of his emotion to show. Kaine was surprised to see a little pride in his expression. "I will review your report and pass it on to the proper people." She noted that he had not said that he would pass it on to the proper authority. The upper echelon would not hesitate to cover up Ghost's actions; wanting the populace to still believe that Spartans were their only hope. However, these proper people were no doubt people that would ensure the message was heard, no matter how hard the UNSC tried to suppress it. Kaine understood that. So rather than comment, she nodded and stood to go. However, before she could turn around Eric let his pride show fully, startling her. "I have known you for eleven years, sir," he told her quietly. "This is the first time I've seen an example of what you've always said. The desire to protect and defend other Spartans. I love you dearly, Klare, but I have been waiting for you to realize that you can be a Helljumper while still being a Spartan. As you said, Spartans are not the weapons or heroes that everyone treats them as. They are human. You are human. It's not wrong for you to not only think of yourself as a Spartan but to take pride in being a Spartan."

For a long moment, Kaine stood frozen. Eventually, she nodded and walked out. The halls were oddly silent as she walked the short distance to her own quarters. Once safely inside, she went to her bunk and pulled out the box she had stored underneath. Inside was a book, a very old-fashioned book. Like she'd told Lasky years ago, she was old fashioned. It was a photo album that she had made years ago. Inside was a picture of every person she knew who had died. Some of the pictures had been hard to get, like Sam and Cal. Others were easier, like all the Helljumpers she'd met and lost. However, she was dedicated to the project, not resting until she had a photo. Each picture had its own page with a single sentence that she felt described them. Now, on the next blank page, she carefully placed Ghost's picture. Taking a pen, she carefully wrote in the words that she'd thought long and hard about.

_And for one last instant, he was human again._

About to close the book, she paused. She knew that O'Brien was waiting for her in the chow hall. He was probably wondering where she was. But Eric's words were echoing in her head and she couldn't ignore them. So instead of closing the book, she flipped to the opening page. She read the short intro she'd written back when she started the book. The first two sentences caught her attention. My name is Kaine. I am a Helljumper. After a long moment of hesitation, she picked up the pen and crossed them out. She'd thought that she would feel a reluctance or hesitancy as she put the pen to the paper but instead there was a feeling of rightness. Maybe Eric was right. There was no shame.

Finished, she put the book on her bed so the ink could dry. O'Brien wouldn't wait much longer, she knew. He wasn't overly pushy and recognized that she outranked him but he did get mighty testy when anything or anyone got between him and his food. She'd kept him waiting long enough so she got back on her feet and went to the door. Glancing back at the book only once, she let her gaze sweep over the new words before leaving.

_My name is Klare. I am a Spartan._

* * *

_Babble time: This chapter is based off of the episode _Prototype _from Halo Legends._

_Thanks for reading. TTFN!_


	5. Sigma Octanus IV

**Sigma Octanus IV**

Harland winced as another grenade went off nearby. His eyes swept the area before him, silently despairing at the situation. His men were scattered, most either dead or dieing already. The Covenant troops were pushing in even farther, quickly eating away at the little safe ground the marines had left. Their only hope now lay in an evacuation and that wouldn't occur if they didn't get in contact with some other group by radio soon.

Fincher suddenly handed Harland the radio set. "Sir, SATCOM is good," he reported, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I've got the _Leviathan_ on the horn." Harland instantly held the radio set in a death grip. This was his men's last hope.

"This is Corporal Harland," he said into the set, hoping his voice didn't sound as desperate as he felt. Or maybe he was hoping it did. He wasn't sure anymore. "The Covenant has hit Firebase Bravo and Alpha HQ-and wiped them out. We've repelled the enemy from Alpha site, but our casualties have been nearly one hundred percent. We have wounded here. We need immediate evac. Say again: we need evac on the double." Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for the reply. The next few seconds would decide the fate for him and his men.

"_Roger, Corporal. Your situation is understood. Evac is not possible at this time. We've got problems of our own up here-"_ The voice cut away to static, leaving Harland with a cold lump in his throat. No evac was coming. They were all going to die. But then the voice came back. _"Help is on the way."_ And the channel went dead.

"Check the transceiver," Harland ordered, handing the set back to Fincher. The marine did as ordered but shook his head. Their set was working which meant the problem was on the other end.

Harland didn't want to think about the sort of trouble the fleet was having. He'd seen more than his fair share of planets glassed from orbit and knew it could likely happen here. He didn't want to die on this planet-not like that.

But right now there were men depending on him so Harland pulled himself back together. "They said help is on the way," he told the other men in the bunker. "So relax." They gave him looks of disbelief; looks he knew he was answering in kind. He looked up at the blue sky, feeling his hope trickle away. "They better send a whole regiment down here."

Other marines made their way to the bunker. They had managed to salvage some supplies like ammunition and extra rifles. There were also a few Jackhammer missiles and a crate of frag grenades. Fincher took the only functioning Warthog to look for larger weapons he could transport back. Reluctantly, the men settled in to wait. In the distance they could hear explosions, showing that the battle was still raging somewhere. At one point they treated more of the wounded, watching in despair as some slipped into comas. Walker finally came over to Harland, his movements hesitant. "So-now what, sir?"

Harland didn't look at Walker, choosing instead to cover one of the wounded with another blanket. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "Can you fight?"

"I think so."

"Good." He passed Walker a rifle. "Get up there and stand watch." Taking out a cigarette, Harland lit it and took a puff before offering it to Walker. The other marine took it shakily before standing and going outside. Almost immediately, he was yelling.

"Sir!" he called. "Dropship inbound. One of ours!" Harland grabbed his flares and quickly ran outside, squinting at the horizon. High on the edge of the sky was a dot, accompanied by the roar of a Pelican engine. He pulled the pin from his signal grenade and tossed the smoker on the ground. A moment later, thick clouds of green were rolling into the sky. The dropship turned quickly and descended towards their location. Eagerly, Harland shaded his eyes to look for the rest of the dropships. However, there was only the one to be seen.

"_One _dropship?" Walker whispered. "That's all they sent? Christ, that's not backup-that's a burial detail." Harland said nothing, finding himself in full agreement.

A moment later the Pelican landed. The launch ramp fell open and a dozen figures marched out. For a moment Harland thought they were those creatures he'd seen earlier. Taller than any human could ever be and covered in powerful armor. He froze, unable to reach his weapon, let alone lift it. But then he realized that these figures were human. Extremely large and heavily armored humans, to be sure, but they were humans all the same. The one in the lead stood over two meters tall and looked like he weighed around two hundred kilograms. His armor reflected light strangely and his movements were so fluid and graceful while being fast and precise and the same time. They were all more machine than human, Harland thought.

Then the leader was moving towards him and he didn't have time to think anymore. There was no insignia on the armor but Harland could see the symbol of a Master Chief Petty Officer on the thing's HUD. "Master Chief, sir!" Harland said as he snapped to attention and saluted.

"Corporal," it answered. "At ease. Get your men together and we'll get to work." Harland blinked in confusion.

"Sir?" he asked. "I've got a lot of wounded here. What work will we be doing, sir?"

The Master Chief's helmet cocked to the side, apparently in slight confusion. It reminded Harland of his niece's puppy back home. "We've come to take Sigma Octanus Four back from the Covenant, Corporal," it answered calmly, as though the answer should have been obvious. "To do that, we're going to kill every last one of them."

XxXxX

John surveyed what was left of Camp Alpha-which wasn't much. Out of the original four hundred men and women that had been stationed at this point, fourteen marines were left. He turned to Kelly, grateful that his HUD would hide his grave expression. "Post a guard on the dropship, and put three on patrol. Take the rest and secure the LZ," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she answered before turning to the others. She pointed, made three quick hand gestures, and they all dispersed like ghosts. After making sure they were gone, he turned back to the Corporal.

"Are you in command here, Corporal?" he asked although the question was likely unnecessary. With so few marines left there was a good chance that any one of them could take command. Still, Harland looked around before nodding.

"I guess so-sir," he said. John approved of the man for taking command of the situation but also felt that Harland would be grateful to relieve that responsibility.

"As of 0900 Standard Military time, NavSpecWeap is assuming control of this operation. All marine personnel now report through our chain of command. Understood, Corporal?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now, Corporal, brief me on what happened here."

The Corporal hunkered down right there, scratching a rough map into the dirt as he quickly reported on the series of surprise attacks that had decimated their numbers. "Right here," he said, pointing to one section of the dirt map. "Grid thirteen by twenty-four. That's where they hit us, sir. Something's goin' on there." John scanned the rough map, compared them to maps displayed in his HUD, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Get your wounded inside the Pelican, Corporal," he ordered. "We'll be dusting off soon. I want you to rotate by thirds on guard duty. The rest of your men should get some sleep. But make no mistake-if the Pelican gets fragged, we'll be staying on Sigma Octanus Four." He watched with a slight amount of amusement as the marine paled before acknowledging the order. The Corporal stood slowly, obviously feeling the long day catching up with him, before saluting and moving to assemble his team.

Behind the shield of his HUD, John frowned. The marines were now under his command, making them part of his team. However, they did not have the Spartan training or firepower, leaving them more as liabilities then allies. Just another snag in a mission that was already full of snags. "Team Leaders, meet me at the LZ in three minutes," he ordered over the COM. His HUD lit up with lights, showing that the other Spartans had acknowledged his order. Taking one last moment to survey the destruction of the camp, he sighed, already tired. There was so much destruction, so much death. They'd have to get a burial detail down to the surface before the Grunts got to the bodies.

There had been a time when John wouldn't question his superiors. A time when he believed that those in command had a reason for everything and it wasn't his place to understand the larger picture. All that had changed when he watched thirty silver coffins launch into empty space, one containing the body of a girl with red hair and green eyes. From that moment, he lost his faith in command. They would never tell soldiers the whole truth. Any lie was permissible if it meant that no one would act out. So he didn't stop himself from feeling bitterness at whoever had set these camps up without proper reconnaissance. They'd clearly trusted the satellite transmissions blindly, even in an enemy-held region. They were fools. Worse, they had wasted the lives of good soldiers.

Green Team's leader jogged towards him from the south. John couldn't see her face but could tell it was Linda from the way she moved. The SRS99C-S2 sniper rifle with Oracle scope was another clue.

She carefully looked around, battle ready as always, before verifying that the area was secure and slinging the rifle across her back. She snapped a crisp salute to John, no doubt serious faced beneath the HUD. "Reporting as ordered, Master Chief."

Joshua, Red Team's leader, ran in from the east, saluting as he came to a stop. "Motion detectors, radar, and automated defenses up and running, sir."

"Good," John acknowledged. "Let's go over this one more time." No doubt the other two already had the plan memorized but he wasn't taking any risks on this mission. So, ignoring their unseen reactions, he overlaid a topographic map onto their HUD displays. "Mission goal one: we need to gather intelligence on Covenant troop disposition and defenses at Cote d'Azur. Mission goal two: if there are no civilian survivors, we are authorized to remote detonate a HAVOK tactical nuclear mine and remove the enemy forces. In the meantime, we will minimize our contact with the enemy." The two Spartans nodded.

John highlighted the four streams that fed into the river delta near the city. This was new information but he knew they were both paying attention. "We avoid these routes. Banshees patrol them." He circled where Firebase Bravo had once been located. "We'll avoid this area as well-according to the marine survivors, that area is hot. Grid thirteen by twenty-four also has activity. Red Leader, take your squad in along the coast. Stay in the tree line. Green leader, follow this ridgeline, but keep under cover too. I'll be taking this route." He traced a path through a particularly dense section of jungle. "It's 1830 hours now. The city is thirteen kilometers from here-that should take us no more than forty minutes. We'll probably be forced to slow down to avoid enemy patrols-but we all should be in place no later than 1930 hours."

He zoomed in on the map, focusing on the city of Cote d'Azur. "Entry points to the city sewer system are-here," he informed, highlighting the locations with NAV points. "Red Team will recon the wharf areas. Green takes the residential section. I'll take Blue Team downtown. Questions?"

"Our communications underground will be limited," Linda said. "How do we check in while keeping our heads down?" John allowed himself a small smile. Leave it to Linda to think of that.

"According to the Colonial Administration Authority's file on Cote d'Azur, the sewer systems here have steel pipes running along the top of the plastic conduits. Tap into those and use ground-return transceivers to check in. We'll have our own private COM line."

"Roger," Linda answered. Joshua just nodded silently.

John continued, "As soon as we leave, the dropship dusts off and will move here." He indicated a position far to the south of Alpha camp. "If the Pelican doesn't make it-our fallback rendezvous point is here." He indicated a pointy fifty kilometers south. "ONI's welcoming committee has stashed our emergency SATCOM link and survival gear there." He waited for a moment but neither of his friends mentioned that survival gear would be utterly useless if the Covenant glassed the planet. "Stay sharp. And come back in one piece. Dismissed."

They saluted briskly before sprinting to their tasks. John watched them for a moment before turning to the Blue Team's frequency. "Time to saddle up, Blue Team. RV back at the bunker for orders." Three blue lights blinked within his HUD.

A moment later, the other three Spartans in his squad trotted into position. "Reporting as ordered," Blue-Two announced. John quickly filled them in on the mission.

"Blue-Two," he said, glancing at the Spartan in question. It was Kelly, he could tell from the way she held herself. He'd tell her that she looked like a hunting hound straining at the leash but he wasn't in the mood to dodge her punch that was sure to follow. "You're carrying the nuke and medical gear."

"Affirmative," she answered. "Who'll have the detonator, sir?"

"I will," he answered. "Blue-Three." That was Fred. "You have the explosives. James, you'll take our extra COM equipment." They all nodded before quickly checking their gear. Each Spartan was armed to the teeth with a variety of weapons, ensuring that they would be able to fight effectively against any opponent. At least, they would against any enemy that they knew of. ONI was concerned that there were still alien species within Covenant that no human had managed to see and live to talk about. Once they were sure they all had their gear John gave the order to head out.

The whole squad moved quickly. They entered the jungle seamlessly, moving in a single line with James in the lead. He had an instinct for walking point, much like another girl John knew. A girl with fiery red hair and eyes that could say more than her words ever would.

Realizing what he was thinking of, John shook his head viciously. He couldn't afford the pain that thinking of that girl would bring him. Not now. Maybe later, when he was in the safety of his quarters with no one around to see him, maybe then he would break down. That was when he could think of those green eyes without trouble. That was when he could allow himself to fall to pieces as he remembered her. This was not that place.

The group moved cautiously, stopping every hundred yards so James could survey the area for any sign of the enemy. The rest of the team would crouch low to the ground, allowing themselves to disappear into the thick jungle foliage. At one such point John checked his HUD; they were one-quarter of the way to the city. So far the team had made good time, even with their cautious pace. Their _MJOLNIR _armor allowed them to push through the vegetation with ease; leaving the Spartans feeling like this was a pleasant stroll through a garden.

As the team moved further on, a thin layer of mist that had been their companion since entering the jungle finally turned into hard, pelting rain. The ground, which had already been damp, gradually turned to mud, forcing the team to go even slower. Then, suddenly, James stopped dead in his tracks and raised his fist-the signal to halt and freeze. John also stopped, his rifle raised as he swept his gaze back and forth, searching for movement. Usually, the Spartans relied on their armor's motion detection to locate enemy troops. Out here, their sensors were useless. Everything moved in the jungle, even without the rain. They had to rely on their eyes, their ears, and James.

"_Point to Team Leader: enemy contact,"_ James' calm voice reported through the COM. _"Enemy troops within one hundred meters of my position, ten degrees left."_ Moving with exaggerated slowness, James indicated the danger area by pointing. John quickly ran through his options and chose one.

"Affirmative," he answered. "Blue Team: hold position." He quickly switched his HUD displays from motion trackers to thermal views. That proved much more effective as he was able to spot three cold spots despite all the rain. They must have been Grunts in their chilled environmental suits. "Blue Team: enemy contact confirmed," he said quietly. "Estimated enemy strength, Point?"

"_Lead, I make ten; say again, ten Covenant troops. Grunts, sir. They're moving slowly. Double-file formation. They haven't spotted us. Orders?"_ John's orders had stated to keep enemy contact to a minimum as the Spartans were to spread out to sustain a prolonged engagement. However, the Grunts were heading right for the marine bunker.

"Let's take them out, Blue Team." Silently, all four Spartans started moving into position for an engagement. Once closer, John could pick out each Grunt on his thermal display. He also noted that they seemed relaxed and bored; only the point and rear guards had their weapons at the ready. The rest were treating this as a social time. This battle would almost be too easy.

"They're seventy meters from this depression," he told the rest of Blue Team, keying a NAV point on their topographic displays. "Their heading for the western hill and will probably follow the terrain to the top. We'll fall back now, and take concealed positions along the eastern hill. Blue-Four, you're our scout-stay near the bottom and let us know when the rear guard passes you. Take them out first, they seem alert. Blue-Two you have overwatch at the top of the hill. Blue-Three, back me up. Silenced weapons only-no explosives, unless things go bad." Fred almost pouted at that point, John could tell. His friend certainly did love his explosives. "Move out." Slowly, the Spartans crept back along their path and spread out along the hill.

John, in the center, readied his assault rifle. He knew the team was virtually invisible in the thick foliage, the pouring rain helping conceal them from view. Once his weapon was ready he settled down to wait. One minute went by. Two. Three. Then James' signal blinked twice on John's HUD. He relaxed the grip on his weapon, waiting-

-There. Twenty meters distant, the Grunt point came into view as it moved to the edge of the western hill. It paused, sweeping its plasma rifle around as it scanned the area, before slowly moving up the rise. A moment later, the rest of the Grunts appeared, following their leader. James' light blinked again. Now.

John fired automatically, a short, three round burst. Those rounds tore through the Point's throat protection, destroying its environmental suit. The Grunt clutched at its neck for a second before falling to the ground, dead. Behind it, the Grunt formation came to a clumsy halt. Then John spotted two strobe flashes, the rear guards also falling to the ground. _"Blue-Four to Lead: rear-guard eliminated."_

"Hit them!" John barked to the rest of the squad. They all four opened fire. Less than a second later, four Grunts fell down, dead from head shots. The remaining three Grunts scrambled with their weapons, trying to find their unseen enemies. They were dropped before they could.

Once all grunts were dead, Kelly quickly gathered their weapons and handed a plasma rifle to each member of the team. All UNSC troops were under standing orders to seize Covenant weapons and technology whenever possible. With their new weapons in place, Blue Team fanned out again, resuming their path towards the city. When they heard Banshees overhead they hunkered down in the mud until the fliers had passed by. Ten more kilometers of rough terrain later and they were stepping out of the jungle and into rice paddies that stretched out before them, not stopping until they reached the city proper. Crossing the fields would be much more difficult than moving through the jungle as there was little natural cover. The Spartans donned camouflage cloaks that masked their thermal signatures before crawling through the muck on their stomachs. It wasn't as bad as some of the exercises they'd done in training with Mendez but John still did not enjoy it. When they finally emerged from the mud, their armor covered so that John couldn't tell what color they were anymore, they were on the beach at the edge of the city. John quickly checked his map and made his way to the sewage outlet. The two-meter diameter pipe was sealed with a steel grate. However, John and Fred easily bent the bars back, clearing the way so they could all enter.

They moved through hip deep muck, all four grateful for their suits ability to filter the air so they didn't have to suffer the smell as well. John didn't like the cramped quarters, knowing it would affect their fighting ability, but kept quiet. There was nothing he could do about the situation. Motion sensors were again rendered useless, leaving them without their usual source of advanced warning as well. Instead, John followed the electronic map as they made their way through the pipes. Every now and then they would come across a beam of light coming from a manhole-cover above them. Every so often something up there would move, cutting the beam off with their body. It was a constant reminder of what was right about their heads. The team moved quickly, not stopping until they reached the downtown section of the city. With a jerk of his head, John signaled for Blue Team to spread out as he used a fiber-optic probe to peer up through a storm grate at street level, plugging the probe into his helmet. The sight was what he'd expected. Grunts positioned on street corners, Banshees flying around in patrols, every man-made item in sight trashed or set on fire. No sign of human life. Pulling the probe back, John moved Blue Team up a block and took another look. There was more activity here. Black armored Grunts walked the streets while a pair of Jackals fought over a hunk of meat that John didn't want to identify. But there was another group of creatures on the sidewalk-or maybe above the sidewalk was a better way to describe the scene.

The aliens were roughly man-size but they floated above the ground. They were vaguely sluglike, with pale, purple-pink skin. Unlike every other Covenant species John had seen, they were not bipeds. Each alien had several tentacles that sprouted from their thick trunks. There was also an odd, pink bladder on each creature's back, possibly the cause of their floating situation. As John watched, one creature opened the hood of a car and began to dismantle the engine. It worked quickly, movements so quick that John thought it could give a Spartan a challenge in speed. In about twenty seconds the thing had the entire engine dismantled, the pieces laying in neat rows on the pavement. The creature paused, seeming to observe the pieces, before it started reassembling the engine as it was. This process repeated several times, the creature occasionally putting the pieces back in other ways as though to see if it could make something new or better out of the same parts. Finally, it put the engine back the way it was supposed to be before floating on its way. John made sure his mission recorder had gotten that. This was a Covenant race never documented before. Seemed ONI was right in their thoughts this time.

Now that the floating thing was gone, John rotated the probe to point down to the opposite end of the street. There was more activity another block away. Quickly, he retracted the probe and hurried his team over a block. Motioning for the others to stand guard, he quickly climbed a short ladder so that he could poke the probe up through a man-hole cover. For a second his vision was impeded but then he realized that half his view was filled with a Jackal hoof. With excruciating slowness, he turned the probe and saw fifty more Jackals milling about. They were concentrated around a building across the street. The building itself reminded him of pictures he had seen in Deja's classroom years ago. It looked like an ancient temple that one would find in Athens or other Greek cities. At the top of the steps was a pair of stationary guns. That couldn't be good. Pulling the probe back, John consulted his map. The building was marked as the city's Museum of Natural History.

Now the question was why the Covenant was protecting a human structure. It was very much outside of their normal behavior, which made it very worrisome. The positioning of the stationary guns proved that any frontal assault would be suicidal, no matter who attacked. Such heavy protection; could the building be their headquarters?

Catching Kelly's attention, John pointed at the accessway that led under the building in question. Using the sign language that all Spartans had learned during their training, he told Kelly to go scout out the passage. The female Spartan instantly obeyed, moving carefully into the gloom. For a brief moment John thought of how those green eyes would laugh as the girl tried to teach him that brand of sign language so that he could teach it to the others. Then the thought was shoved away like all the others had been. Instead, he checked the time and noted that the other teams were due to report. He had James attach the ground-return transceiver to the pipes over head. "Green Team, come in."

"_Roger: Green Team Leader here, sir,"_ Linda answered quietly over the channel. Apparently she was in a location where Covenant could easily hear her. _"We've scouted the residential section. No survivors-just like Draco Three. We're too late."_ He understood. All Spartans had seen it before. Covenant did not take prisoners. On Draco III they had watched through satellite linkup as any human survivors were herded out to an area only to be torn apart by starving Jackals and Grunts. The Spartans hadn't managed to get to the location in time to save anyone. But the victims had been avenged in full.

"Green Team: stand by and prepare to fall back to the RV and secure the area," he said. Linda acknowledged before John switched to the Red Team's COM channel. "Red Team: report."

"_Red Leader, sir. We've got something for ONI. We've spotted some new type of Covenant race. Little guys that float. They seem to be some sort of explorer or scientist type. They take things apart, then move on, like they're looking for something. They do not, repeat not, appear hostile. Advise that you do _

_not engage. They raise a pretty loud alarm, Blue Lead."_ John's heart skipped a beat.

"You in trouble?" The others all tensed, ready to spring into action if the answer was an affirmation.

"_Dodged trouble, sir. But there is one snag." _John closed his eyes, stifling a groan. How he hated that word. Spartans were trained to deal with just about anything combat related. Those were complications or setbacks. Snags were events that the Spartans had not been trained for. Snags always led to headaches. "Go ahead."

"_We have survivors. Twenty civilians hid in a cargo ship here. There are several wounded."_ Well, yes, that was certainly a snag. John's orders were clear; they were not to set up the nuke if there was a civilian population at risk. However, the nuke would wipe out ten thousand enemy troops.

"New mission objective, Red Team Leader," John said, thinking fast. "Get those civilians to the recovery point and evac them to the fleet." He didn't wait for an affirmation, quickly switching channels to broadcast to all Spartan teams. "Green Team Leader, you still online?" There was a pause before Linda replied positively. "Move to the docks and coordinate with Red Team-they have survivors we need to evac. Green Team Leader has strategic control of this mission." Both Spartans acknowledged his orders before signing off, hurrying to complete their mission. John knew it would be difficult. The civilians would slow them down and any fighting would attract the attention of other Covenant troops. Still, he had faith in their abilities.

Kelly came back just then. She opened a COM link and reported, "There's access to the building-a ladder and a steel plate welded shut. We can burn through it." Nodding, John switched the COM channel to his entire team.

"We're going to assume that Red and Green Teams will remove the civilians from Cote d'Azur. We will proceed as planned." With a barely noticeable pause, he turned back to Kelly. "Break out the nuke and arm it."

Nodding, Kelly set the nuke and all the needed equipment down to start working. John was the one to remove the bonding strips from the nuke and attach it to the wall of the sewer. Once he was sure the thing was attached, he slipped the detonator key into a thin slot on the unit's face. The nuke was designed with no external indicators, only a tiny screen that winked on his HUD to indicate the nuke was armed. The device could only be detonated by remote control which would be a problem as it was in a sewer. However, John quickly rigged a ground-return transceiver on the pipes overhead. They'd set up another unit outside to relay their signal to the explosive.

Technically, at that point their mission was complete. However, John wanted to know what was so important about a history museum that Covenant troops were guarding it so fiercely. So when Kelly asked what their orders were he hesitated only a moment before making up his mind. "We're going in," he told his team. "Use your silencers. Don't engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary. This place is too hot. We'll just poke our noses in-see what they're up to and bug out." Three lights blinked in acknowledgement on his HUD. They all trusted him completely. Now he hoped that he was worthy of their trust. The group quickly silenced their weapons before moving towards the entrance Kelly had located. Once there, Fred observed the welded plate they faced.

"Thermite paste already set up," he reported. John just nodded and gave the order to burn it. All four of them had to look away as the paste burned, casting strange shadows into the sewers. Once it was done burning there was an arc of glowing red in the steel. Climbing the ladder, John put his shoulder to the plate and pushed. It popped free with a metallic snap. Sliding the plate slightly to the side, John fed the probe through the small opening and observed the room. It was clear. Flexing his legs, John nearly sprang out of the hole with his armor's response. His weapon was at the ready and he braced for enemy fire but there was none. Moving forward, he swept the room and decided they were in some sort of storage location. Behind him he could hear the others coming up through the floor.

"_Picking up motion sensor signals,"_ Kelly reported. John winced, having forgotten to check for that.

"Jam them."

"_Done. They maybe got a piece of us though."_

"Spread out," John ordered quickly, already planning how to fight in the cramped room. "Get ready to jump back into the hole if this gets too hot. Otherwise, initiate the standard distract-and-destroy." The Spartans obeyed as the clatter of alien hooves sounded outside. By the time the door opened to reveal a pack of Jackals the Spartans were all hidden. Cautious, the Jackals entered slowly in a rough "delta" formation. Just as they were about to reach John's location there was a clink of glass behind them. They all spun towards the noise, revealing their unshielded backs to John and his combat knife. Quick as an explosion, he burst from his hiding space. One Jackal had his combat knife sunk into his back while another had its head crushed from John's kick. The other Jackals turned towards him, only to fall as the other Spartans shot their unprotected back. In seconds, all the Jackals were on the floor, dead.

Quickly policing the bodies for weapons and tech, including shield generators, the Spartans gathered what they could before moving on. Kelly took point this time, leading the team up a circular stairwell. She paused at the doorway to the main floor before waving the others up. The main floor was devoid of life, a fact that set John's teeth on edge. The whole situation didn't feel right and Mendez had always told him to trust his instincts. Was this all a trap?

The team moved forward slowly, sweeping every inch of space with their gazes and weapons. For long moments there was nothing to be seen. Then Fred halted, seemingly shocked, before quickly waving John to move to his position. The two stood by a case of pinned butterflies and stared down at Fred's find.

It was a Jackal. A dead Jackal. The thing was crushed flat, the imprint of a large boot resting where the Jackal's back should have been. John spotted blood-smeared footprints leading away from the Jackal and into the west wing. Quickly switching HUD view to infrared, he took a long look around. There was no heat to be seen in the nearby rooms.

Taking a deep breath, John glanced down at the dead Jackal once more. He'd never seen one-crushed like this one had been. Whatever had killed the Jackal had been massive and John wasn't entirely sure they could take it on. A memory tugged at the back of his mind, telling him that he should have an idea about the creature in question but the tug was faint and he didn't have time to focus on it. He did, however, need to make a choice as the others were waiting on him. The infrared sensors hadn't shown any heat sources from the west wing so, with careful steps, he headed in that direction.

The west wing had scientific displays everywhere, reminding John of Deja's classroom on Reach. Another memory tugged at him, one of bright red hair and laughing green eyes, but he shook it away quickly. This wasn't the time or the place to remember his ghosts. Instead, he carefully made his way past the displays, senses straining to get a hint of danger before it hit them. He knew his friends were behind him, just as cautious. For their sake, he couldn't allow himself to be caught unaware.

Spotting an opening, John realized that there was a branch off the main wing. The archway bore the word _Geology_, identifying what would be found within. Gesturing for the others to pause, John switched back to infrared. For the briefest of seconds he saw a thin line register on the sensors, hot and bright, before everything shut down. Whatever that source was, it had overloaded his equipment.

Frustrated, John chewed on his lip. This mission was taking all the wrong turns it could. Yes, they'd managed to fulfill their mission parameters. The marine group had been rescued, the nuke had been planted to destroy Cote d'Azur, they'd identified a new Covenant species, civilians had surely been rescued by now, and they'd even managed to capture some Covenant tech. They should have been able to call it a day.

But for possibly the first time that he could remember, John's orders had been very flexible and open-ended. That made him nervous. Without clear cut orders and expectations he floundered a bit. Was there something else command had wanted him to do? Had he already overstepped his bounds? There was no way of knowing which left John in a very unstable mood. Still, he'd made the choice to enter the museum; his curiosity peaked by the way Covenant was protecting the human building. That damnable curiosity always managed to get him and the others into trouble. He would curse all curiosity to hell but whenever the desire welled up he would remember the red-haired girl that had taught him to be curious. He couldn't curse her.

Now see where it got him and his team. Sure, this was certainly information gathering and ONI never turned their noses up at that but he was risking the lives of his friends. Hopefully, it would not only be worth it but maybe they'd all manage to get out alive again. With that thought, John pulled out his fiber-optic probe, bent it slightly, and put it around the corner.

The room he was spying on was full of minerals. Sulfur, rubies, emeralds, quartz, not to mention all the stones he couldn't identify. What captured his attention, though, were the two creatures that stood to the side of the room, standing perfectly still. They were monstrous, easily towering over his own height of seven feet. Their armor was unlike any John had ever seen, reminding him of the cold metal of the Covenant ships and yet different at the same time. There were no eyes to be seen, just a slit in the armor. Large shields were attached to their left arms while massive weapons were literally melded into the right arms. Another violent tug from his memory, he knew these things, but he shoved it away. This wasn't the time!

Most of the Spartans didn't know it but John was one of those people that got scared all the time. One could argue that he was always scared which was technically false but he could understand why someone would think it. However, he was very careful to ensure that he never _appeared_ afraid. Anyone that ever saw or heard him would think that fear was a foreign concept to him. The fear never lasted long either. He would always acknowledge the emotion before discarding it, just as he had been trained. Yet the sight of the two behemoths, slowly moving amongst the minerals as they apparently looked for something, awakened a primal fear within John that he couldn't just discard.

That didn't mean he couldn't act though. Slowly, he gave the signal for the other Spartans to stay alert and get ready. He waved Kelly and Fred forward, James already on the left side of the arch. In the room, one of the creatures picked up a rock from one of the display cases and placed it within a red metal case. The other touched the control panel of what appeared to be a smaller version of a pulse laser turret. That had been the source of the infrared light that had shorted out John's equipment. A laser that powerful would have no problem sending a message into space itself, no doubt its purpose.

Fred and Kelly were in position, Fred standing slightly behind John while Kelly stood with James. John held up two fingers and made a sideways cut motion, gesturing towards the room. The acknowledgment lights blinked at him, reassuring him that they were ready for this. With a final deep breath, John sidestepped to the right, Fred moving with him. James and Kelly mirrored them perfectly. Then all four opened fire.

Despite having armor-piercing rounds, John watched in dismay as every bullet bounced off the alien's armor without leaving even a scratch. One of the aliens lifted his shield, covering its partner and the red case. Then it raised its right arm and pointed it at Kelly and James.

The next few seconds were very confusing for John. There was a flash of light that blinded him as all his sensors and equipment overloaded. A deafening explosion and wave of heat slammed into him, forcing him to brace himself in an attempt to not go flying backwards. He spent a full three seconds blinking, trying desperately to clear his vision. When he finally did he wished he hadn't.

Where Kelly and James had been there was only a burning crater, leaving nothing but charred stone and ash in its wake. Kelly had managed to move in time; she was crouched about five meters away, still firing at the creatures. There was no sign of James.

Then the other creature moved, pointing its weapon at John. He hit the button on the shield generator he'd taken from the dead Jackal and raised it. The movement was barely in time as the alien's weapon flashed. This time John did go flying, the force of the blast throwing him backwards with such force he felt like he was being shot from a cannon. He crashed through a wall and still managed to skid ten meters before slamming into another wall that happened to stop his movement. The shield generator was white-hot and actually melting from the heat. John quickly ripped it off, throwing it away from him as he got to his feet again. His mind was already rushing forward, struggling with this mystery. He'd finally identified the weapons as plasma blasts but he'd never seen plasma bolts this powerful. At least, he'd never seen mobile ones this powerful. The Jackals had plasma cannons that were just about as powerful but they were stationary. Hopefully these mobile versions needed time to recharge, just like the stationary versions. If not, his team was doomed.

That damn memory tugged at him again, insisting that he knew something vital but he shoved the thought away. The middle of a battle was not the time to take a trip down memory lane. Instead he turned back to the hole he had made in the wall. The fear was still there, growing stronger with every second, but Kelly and Fred were still fighting. He needed to protect them and get them to safety before he could indulge in the luxury of feelings.

Kelly and Fred were circling the creatures, trying to find a weak spot in the armor but it was proving to be a fruitless hunt. They'd already emptied one clip each into the fight and were working on their second. Obviously this tactic wasn't working. Maybe a Jackhammer missile at point-blank range would work; John was beginning to doubt that anything else would even make a dent. But then he remembered the monolith of pink quartz that had stood in the middle of the room.

"Switch to shredder rounds," he ordered over the COM, quickly changing his own ammunition. Once the new clip was loaded he opened fire-at the floor beneath the aliens. Understanding swept through Kelly and Fred as they copied his actions. One of the creatures raised its arm again, preparing to fire. The fear swept over John in a tidal wave but he kept his voice steady as he yelled, "Keep firing!"

Then the floor finally seemed to surrender. It creaked and buckled before finally giving way, dropping the aliens into the basement. "Quick!" John ordered, slinging his rifle over his shoulder as he raced to the quartz monolith and braced his back against it. "Push!" Kelly and Fred leaned their own weight against the stone and heaved with him. Even with all three pushing the slab barely moved.

Then James was suddenly there, ramming into the stone beside them. His left arm had been burned away from the elbow down but he didn't give any signs of discomfort. His sudden addition jostled the slab closer to the edge but there was a slight ridge around the hole, stopping their progress once more. The fear was almost all consuming now, making John close his eyes in despair-only to pause when a new sound reached his ears. Running footsteps.

Before John could open his eyes again another body hit the space beside him, ramming into the quartz monolith at high speed. The power behind the hit pushed the slab over the final ridge, resulting in the monolith tilting dangerously before tumbling into the hole and landing with a crunch. Scrambling, John looked over the edge. He saw an armored leg on one side, an arm on the other. The arm was still moving, albeit slower and weaker then before. At least one of the creatures was still alive. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught John's attention and he turned to see what it was.

The red case was balanced on the edge of the hole, leaning dangerously towards the hole. He turned slightly to Kelly, the fastest Spartan since forever, and yelled: "Grab it!" The words had barely left his mouth as the case fell-and Kelly leaped.

The case had not been secure, resulting in the Kelly being able to grab the rock that had been placed within easily before landing with an almost effortless grace. The case tumbled into the hole without complaint as Kelly handed the rock to John.

The rock was a piece of granite with a few jewel like inclusions. John was no expert on rocks but it seemed to be a very ordinary specimen. Certainly nothing special about it to reveal why Covenant wanted it. But they did want it and that was enough of a reason to insure they didn't get it. So he stuffed the rock into his ammunition sack before kicking over the Covenant transmission beacon. Outside, he heard the sounds of Jackals and Grunts approaching. "Let's get out of here, Spartans," he ordered before belatedly remembering that final body that had slammed into the monolith. Whirling around he was confronted with the masked face of a Helljumper looking right at him. Questions instantly sprung to the tip of his tongue but the Helljumper cut him off with a nod, indicating its acceptance of his order.

Covenant was getting closer so John accepted the nod. He threw his arm around James to help the injured Spartan along. Kelly took point, leading the way to the basement while Fred fell back, covering their escape. The Helljumper kept pace on James' unprotected side, weapon at the ready. The group raced down to the basement, making sure to give the pinned monsters a wide berth although the Helljumper's movements suggested confusion at the Spartan's actions. However, no complaints were spoken and the team managed to get to the storm drain and jump into the sewers. They jogged through the muck and grime, unwilling to slacken their pace until the finally cleared the drainage system and emerged in the rice paddies on the edge of the city.

Fred quickly rigged the ground-return relay to the pipes overhead and ran a crude antenna to a position where nothing would interfere with its signal. Meanwhile, the city was in uproar. Banshee's circled the city, their blue spotlights bathing the streets and buildings in blue light. The grunts were going insane, barking and screaming to the point of incoherency. However, with all the focus being inside the city, the Spartans were able to move towards the coast, following the tree line. James' injury finally caught up with him and he collapsed twice along the way before finally falling unconscious. John quickly slung him over his shoulders but was surprised when the Helljumper took James' weapons and added them to its own load.

At one point the team stopped when a patrol of Grunts passed by. The creatures either didn't see them or didn't care, instead running mindlessly towards the city. John marked their behavior as odd but didn't dwell on the moment to long. Not with James injured and depending on him.

Finally, the group was only one click away from the rendezvous point. John opened the COM link. "Green Team Leader, we're on your perimeter, and coming in. Signaling with blue smoke."

"_Ready and waiting for you, sir,"_ Linda replied, a note of relief in her voice. "_Welcome back." _Before John had a chance to set off one of his smoke grenades, though, she continued. _"Sir, did you meet with Commander Faldon? She was told how you got into the city but we haven't heard from her since she went to follow."_ John glanced back at the Helljumper, finally noticing the command insignia on its shoulder. There was no nametag but he thought it safe to assume this was Faldon.

"We met up," he answered Linda tersely, popping his grenade before stepping into the clearing, his team following him. Relief swept over him as he saw that the Pelican was intact and safe. Corporal Harland and the other marines were standing guard; the rescued civilians huddled inside, while Green and Red teams were spread about the nearby bushes and trees. Linda jogged towards them. She spotted James and motioned for her team to take him to the Pelican.

"Sir," she greeted. "All civilians on board and ready for liftoff." John nodded, wanting to relax and sit down, maybe even close his eyes and rest. But this was often the most dangerous time of every mission-the last few moments where you wanted to drop your guard. He always remembered that after all of Mendez's traps.

"Good," he answered instead. "Take one more look around the perimeter. Let's make double sure nothing followed us back."

"Yes, sir," Linda answered, instantly moving to obey the order. John watched her for a moment before movement had him turning towards Corporal Harland as the marine approached and saluted, eyes wide with wonder."

"Sir?" the young marine asked. "How did you do it? Those civilians said you got them out of the city-past an army of Covenant, sir. How?"

John regarded the marine in confusion, even allowing himself to cock his head in a questioning manner. "It was our mission, Corporal," he answered, wondering how that hadn't been obvious. A sudden snort of laughter made both men turn towards the Helljumper who wasn't bothering to hide its amusement.

"That's one way to put it," the Helljumper said, confirming that it was a female. John tilted his head again, inviting further comment but none was forthcoming. Instead, Linda returned with the report that the perimeter was clear, allowing the last of the Spartans to board the Pelican. James was awake again, his eyes swimming in pain, but he managed a salute before John motioned for Kelly to sedate him again. The Pelican lifted into the air, allowing Cote d'Azur to be revealed for a moment before suddenly accelerating to full speed, heading into the atmosphere.

"_Sir,"_ the pilot said over the COM channel. _"We're getting multiple incoming radar contacts-about two hundred Banshees inbound."_

"The Spartan's have it covered, Lieutenant," the Helljumper said, surprising the Spartans on board. "You should probably prepare the ship for EMP and shock wave."

"_Yes, Commander Faldon,"_ came the reply. The Helljumper nodded towards John, the move somehow appearing to be condescending. Glaring, John activated his remote radio transceiver and keyed in the final fail-safe code before sending the code to the waiting antenna.

A third sun appeared on the horizon, blotting out the light of the system's stars. It cooled quickly, leaving a sky that was darkened with black clouds of dust. Cote d'Azur was no more.

The Pelican was oddly quiet, no one wanting to talk after the events on the planet. However, John couldn't stop the questions that were dancing on his tongue anymore as he turned towards the Helljumper. "Who are you?" he finally asked.

The Helljumper turned towards him; face still obscured by the helmet. "Brigader General Faldon, commanding officer of the 105th Helljumpers. It's good to see you again, Master Chief." John blinked in confusion, confident that the movement was hidden behind his HUD. But his confusion wasn't so easily hidden, as became apparent when the Helljumper tilted her own head. "You've forgotten, haven't you? I was one of the cadets you rescued from Corbulo."

The memory fell into place, along with the knowledge of those creatures in the museum. Groaning, John allowed his helmet to strike the wall behind him. How could he have forgotten those things?! "Ah, you remember now, I see," the Commander continued, laughter in the edge of her voice. "I was wondering why you didn't shoot those two Hunters in the gap of their armor rather then drop a monolith on them." John hit his head against the wall a couple more times, calling himself a fool in every language he knew, before turning back to the Helljumper. Her name was also dancing just beyond his reach. He knew he knew it. Cadet Lasky had mentioned it at least once.

"You're-Kaine, right?" he asked, relieved when he was answered with a nod. "Glad to see you stayed in the UNSC after Corbulo." For a moment he thought that the hidden face of Kaine Faldon was marred by a frown but he dismissed the thought. He hardly knew the female; there was no way he could guess her expressions when he couldn't see his face. The only person he'd managed to do that with was the girl with green eyes that he refused to think about anymore.

"There wasn't anywhere else for me to go," Faldon answered, voice tight with what John thought was anger. "Service to the UNSC was chosen for me long ago." The silence came rushing back, trying to smother John in revenge for the tense atmosphere he'd created. Desperate to fix things, he scrambled for another topic.

"Why were you on Sigma Octanus Four?" he asked before wincing. Never let it be said that Spartans were good at small talk. Indeed, Faldon's body language as she looked at John indicated slight exasperation.

"I was ordered," she answered dryly before tilting her head a little. The movement reminded John sharply of someone else and for a moment he could almost see red hair. "Well, sort of. The order was given for a Helljumper to land on the planet and aide the Spartans when word reached us that you had rescued civilians. From that point, I volunteered." John waited for her to expound upon her statement but the Helljumper lapsed back into silence.

"How did you find us?" he asked, wanting to keep the discussion moving for some reason. The Helljumper regarded him quietly for a long moment before shrugging.

"I landed near the Pelican," she answered flippantly. "The marines in the area explained the situation. I chose to follow your team since you seemed to be in the most risk and the marines told me where you went and how to reach you. Although, I admit, I wasn't expecting to find you in the museum, trying to squash a couple Hunters with a quartz monolith."

The Pelican shook slightly as they passed through the atmosphere into space. The _Leviathan _was before them, showing damage from the space battle but otherwise remarkably intact. Conversation ceased as the dropship docked with the cruiser, settling easily in the hangar. As soon as they were secure they could feel the ship's engine's roar to life as the cruiser accelerated into space. John and Faldon waited for the civilians and marines to disembark before following the other Spartans. The area was chaotic but emptying fast as most personnel were rushing back to their stations. In minutes, the only humans in the hangar were the Spartans and Faldon.

"This is eerily familiar," the Helljumper drawled, her body slightly tense. "If it's all the same to you, Master Chief, I'm gonna head out." John hadn't even managed to reply before the doors slid open again, revealing two more Spartans. Zach and Luna, who had been left aboard the ship for emergency purposes, trotted over quickly, eager to make sure the ground Spartans were alright. Out of the corner of his eyes John could see Faldon become stiffer than a steel wall. What was wrong with her?

"Sir, welcome back," Luna said, allowing a small smile to grace her face. Zach said nothing, staring at Faldon with a bit of shock. The Helljumper just gazed back, not relaxing at all. "Some ONI officers are here; they want to speak to you about what happened on the planet."

"Understood," John answered distractedly, thoroughly confused by Zach and Faldon's actions. The Helljumper was outside his realm of command but Zach was not. "Zachery, what is your problem?" The raven haired Spartan jumped a bit, glancing at John before looking back at the Helljumper.

"I'm sorry, it's just-Kaine? Is that you?" he asked hesitantly, a strange tone in his voice that put every Spartan on alert. It was a mix of hope and worry. "Kaine Faldon?" For a long moment everyone was still but then the Helljumper sighed and nodded.

"It's me," she answered. At the sound of her voice Luna's body snapped taught, her eyes wide in shock. "It's good to see you again, Zach." By then, all the Spartans were watching the decidedly strange encounter. Faldon's words and actions were strange enough but none of the watching Spartans could understand how Zack and Luna were responding. Kelly was just about to demand answers when Faldon sighed heavily, seeming to resign herself. "Alright, let's get this over with." Before anyone could respond, she reached up and pulled her helmet off, revealing pale skin and fiery red hair. John's breath caught, remembering the last person he'd seen with hair like that.

Then, faster than a blink, Luna moved. "You!" she roared, striking like a snake. Her punch landed on Faldon's jaw before anyone else could react, throwing the Helljumper back.

"Lu, stop!" Zach yelled, grabbing his old teammate before she could chase the Helljumper. "It's not what you think!" John was torn, wanting to help calm Luna but knowing he should check on Faldon even though she was probably dead. The Spartans had killed more than their fair share of Helljumpers thanks to their advanced strength. He glanced in the direction the Helljumper had been thrown and spotted a Warthog that looked like it had been hit by a Brute Chieftain's hammer. The sight confirmed that Faldon was dead, no one could survive a strike like that, but before he could turn back to the still raging Luna he saw a hand emerge from the rubble of the Warthog. He watched in stupefied awe as Faldon pulled herself from the rubble, appearing to be perfectly fine except for her split lip.

"Who are you?" he breathed, unable to understand what he was seeing. Silver eyes met his, roiling with some emotion he couldn't understand. There was pain there, emotional pain, as well as regret. His mind was roaring at him, telling him that he knew those eyes, even if they were a different color.

"You know," she answered lowly, voice hard but regret still danced on the edges. Shakily, John shook his head, even as his mind replaced her cold silver eyes with warm emerald ones. "Yes you do, Master Chief." Another shake of his head, this one seeming almost desperate. "You know me, John!"

"You're not Klare!" John yelled, not caring that his outburst cut through the other Spartans as they all spun to look at the pair. "Klare died! She didn't survive the augmentations and we shot her body into space! You! Are! Not! Klare!" Harsh silence fell upon the hanger, trying to crush everyone within as they all held their breaths.

"Yes she is." Every gaze shot towards Zach, unable to believe what he had said. "Kaine Faldon, the adopted daughter of Eric Faldon, is Klare. She told me all about it-years ago."

Furious, John drew breath to yell at the raven haired man but abruptly froze when a strong hand fell upon his shoulder. "You can be angry at me," Faldon said, her voice hard and tight and how could he not have noticed that she spoke just like Klare had? Even with all the years that she had refused to speak to them, John could remember her strange little accent. Could remember how he would tease her about it and how she would tease him about his sweet-tooth as payback. "Hell, you can be furious with me. I deserve it. But I swear, John, if you take your anger out on Zach I'll make you wish that I _had_ died during the augmentations." The hand squeezed in warning and he could feel it through the armor. Only someone with Spartan strength could do that.

"Explain. Now!" he growled out, trying to control his anger. Slowly, the hand on his shoulder applied pressure until he was looking into her eyes. Silver eyes searched his, apparently figuring out how to tell him all that had happened. In the end she just sighed and started talking. She told him everything. How she'd found Vincent, what she'd discovered before the final augmentations, how she'd escaped and ended up on Corbulo, and what she'd done with her life since. She was fully aware of how the other Spartans were watching and listening but paid them no mind. They were still her friends, her family, but if they rejected her it wouldn't be the end of her world. She had the Helljumpers now and they were family too. John was different. Even after all these years she couldn't explain the relationship she had with him. Couldn't put words to why it was so different from her relationship with anybody else. It just was. She would be fine if the other Spartans rejected her but if John did she felt like her whole existence would end.

"That's everything," she finished, taking a deep breath. "Like I said, you can be angry with me if you want. You can hate me (although she hoped he wouldn't) but I swear that's everything. No more secrets, no more lies." She warily searched his gaze again, not liking how closed off it was. John wasn't the type of person to hide his emotions. He always wore his heart on his sleeve, a trait that made him a good leader for the Spartans. The only time he kept his emotions hidden was when they were so powerful he didn't think he could control them.

"You abandoned us," he finally said, his voice strained. "You turned your back on everyone. How could you betray us like that?" Despite herself, Kaine felt a rush of anger at his words.

"Betray?" she scoffed, finally releasing her grip on his shoulder as she took a step back. "I didn't betray anyone!"

"You betrayed us all!" John countered, rage finally sparking in his eyes. "You betrayed the Spartans, Chief Mendez, Dr. Halsey; you betrayed the entire UNSC-"

"The UNSC betrayed us first!" she cut in, matching his rage easily. "They lied to us from our first day! Or don't you remember Dr. Halsey standing before seventy-five terrified children and telling them that they would all make it? Halsey and ONI knew that some of us would die during the augmentations! Did you even pay attention to all the crap they put your body through?! Thirty-three kids, John. That's how many of us survived. The UNSC betrayed the twenty-nine of us that died because of them! The UNSC betrayed the dozen of us that were damaged so badly by the augmentations that they couldn't continue with a normal life! Tell me, where are Mark and Fhajad? Where are Kirk and Rene? Their whole lives were ruined and do you want to know what ONI said about what happened to them? 'Acceptable losses.' That's how ONI and the UNSC classified the twelve mutated and twenty-nine dead Spartans. We were numbers and weapons to them, nothing more."

Chest heaving, Kaine allowed the echoes of her voice to fade. There was no anger in John's gaze anymore but her own anger was pulsing in her ears, drowning out any other sound. She would have launched into another tirade if she had not seen Zach out of the corner of her eye. He looked-tired. So tired. For his sake, and his alone, she pulled her temper back under control. "I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you," she said quietly. "I'm sorry that I kept the truth from the Spartans and Chief Mendez. But those are the only things I'm sorry for. If I ever had the chance to change my choices I would not take it." Suddenly tired herself, she looked in John's eyes one last time, letting him see everything she was feeling. "I'm glad you're still sheltered enough to not see the corruptness that surrounds you. I sincerely hope you'll all die before you learn just what sort of people you're fighting for. Because I've seen them when they think no one is watching and I can't forget it. I can't forget the truth." Looking down, she shrugged despondently. "Now go, I'm sure the ONI officers are wondering where the hell you all are." Before John could dredge up the words that were lodged in his chest she had spun on her heel and was striding away. No one followed her.

"We tell ONI nothing," John finally said before turning to head towards the elevator his group needed. The other Spartans that had gone to the planet fell in behind him, each one in quiet contemplation. None were entirely sure they understood Faldon's reasons for leaving but it wasn't their place to understand. Master Chief had given them the order to withhold the information from ONI and they would obey. For them, life was that simple.

For the Helljumper that was curled up in her quarters, wondering when the hell her life had gone so drastically wrong, life was much more complicated.


End file.
